Angels With Dirty Faces
by MusicCloud
Summary: Quinn Fabray died for ten minutes when she was a child. When she was revived, she found she had brought a piece of the afterlife back with her- she could see and hear the dead.Years after, Quinn moves to Lima Ohio and meets a petite brunette in a desolate house, though she shortly starts to realise that there may be more to Rachel Berry than she's letting on.
1. Chapter 1

_13 years ago._

"Quinn, stop fidgeting and just hold my hand, we're crossing a main road," Judy Fabray scolded her impatient five year old daughter. Quinn huffed and still continued to squirm in her mother's grip as the idea of going to her first dance class became more and more exciting. Quinn shoved her little hand into the pocket of her white, cotton dress as she felt the familiar cold, metal cross necklace brush against her fingertips. It had been given to her by her grandmother when she was born. She treasured the necklace more than any of her other belongings, and thought that it always brought her good luck as her grandmother had promised her it would.

She drew the necklace out of her pocket and tried to put it over her head with the free hand that wasn't being controlled by her mother. Just as she was about to slip it over her dark blonde head, she was tugged sharply by her mother to cross the road. The necklace fell to the ground with a slight clang as it hit hard tarmac.

Quinn gaped in horror as she was jerked forward by Judy. "Quinn, move faster! This is a busy road," her mother shouted at her. Quinn began to tear up and soon her eyes were threatening to overflow with salty tears. Upon reaching the sidewalk, Quinn broke free of her mother's loosened clasp and ran back into the road to retrieve her necklace. She grinned to herself when she reunited herself with the keepsake and then looked back to her mother who was shouting frantically at Quinn, running into the road herself. She looked away from her mother, suddenly realising that a huge, SUV was heading straight towards her and before she knew it, everything fizzled into darkness.

* * *

"Clear!" I doctor shouted, and an electric shock was sent through the little five year olds bloody, bruised and broken body. "Clear!" He shouted again for the process to be repeated. They'd been trying to save little Quinn Fabray's life for almost ten minutes now but the screen still held no promise of life. The doctor sighed and motioned for the others to stop. He rolled up his sleeve and looked down at his watch. "Time of death-"

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

The doctor stopped dead in his tracks and slowly looked at the heart monitor which was now showing a faint heart beat that was constantly gaining. He furrowed his brows in confusion and utter disbelief. He thought as himself as a damned good doctor but even he had little hope for saving a five year old child that had been hit square on by an SUV.

"I don't believe it," he muttered to himself in shock. "This is impossible!" All the nurses and surgeons were at an utter loss for words, all they could do was momentarily stare at the revived infant. The room erupted with exchanged shocked conversations, shortly followed by making sure that Quinn was stabilised.

The doctors called Quinn a miracle and eventually when she woke up, that was all they would say to her. Of course, Quinn didn't really comprehend that she had actually been dead for ten minutes until she was much older but she still enjoyed all the attention that her accident was giving her.

Two weeks after the accident, Quinn was finally allowed to go home. She was excited for so many things. Her own room, her toys and no more people prodding and poking her. In the car home, she gazed out of the window, relishing the views that she hadn't seen for almost two weeks. California really was a place to miss.

As the car pulled into the driveway, Quinn was bouncing in her seat, tugging impatiently on the child locked door. Her father climbed out of the car, opened the front door of the house and came back for an eager Quinn. As soon as the car door was opened, she ran straight into the house, up the stairs and into her pink and white coloured room, only to stop dead in the door way.

She cocked her head in confusion as she eyed up a strange man that was dressed in a frayed, brown suit which had suspenders attached to hold his pants up. He wore no shoes, only tattered socks, and he was covered in scuffs and dirt from head to toe. He stood in front of Quinn's bed, staring out of her window with a remorseful look on his face. His unkempt, mousy brown hair was hid underneath a tatty flat cap and he rubbed his unshaven face. The strange man didn't even acknowledge Quinn, until she spoke.

"Who are you? This is my room," Quinn spoke up bravely, coldly staring at the man.

He jumped slightly and looked at Quinn directly. His eyes had seemed lifeless and drained but now, looking at the five year old, everything came flooding back into them.

"You can hear me? You can see me?" The man all but shouted as he kneeled down to Quinn's level with his mouth agape.

"Yes," Quinn said, not quite sure how to answer such absurd questions. _Of course _she could see and hear him. "But what are you doing in my room mister?" She asked defiantly.

The man fixed her with a hard stare and pushed himself to his feet. "Do you know girl, I haven't spoken to anyone in almost 90 years?" He said calmly as he started walking towards Quinn who was beginning to feel slightly scared. "And now, on a chance day that I decided to visit my old house, here you are. A rarity that can see and hear me. I need something from you, please, help me so I can move on from this world," he begged her, moving even closer.

Quinn backed into the doorframe and shut her eyes tight, holding her little arms up to ward the advancing man away. She had no idea what he was saying, she had no idea how he got into her room and she had no idea what in the world happened next.

When she didn't feel her hands come into contact with anything, she reluctantly opened her hazel eyes which grew wide as she screamed for her parents. The man stood inches in front of her, simply looking down at her hands that had passed right through his _body. _

After the Fabrays had found their daughter with her arms stuck out into the air, crying hysterically and shouting about a man that was right in front of her and then complaining about the same man not leaving her alone and scaring the daylights out of her for weeks, they decided it was time to move. Though it seemed they would have to do that an awful lot for the next few years. Nearly every house they moved into almost always harboured another strange person that only Quinn could see that would harass her all day and all night for a _favour. _Her parents were at a loss. They took Quinn to doctors and psychologists alike but all of them seemed to think it was either her age, or her imagination. They found nothing abnormal with Quinn, physically or mentally. In the end, they felt obliged into believing Quinn when she said she could really see these people.

As Quinn got older, she realised that it was wise not to tell people about what she could see, as no one else seemed to share the trait. She learnt that the people she saw were actually spirits, ghosts, the departed. It didn't matter what she called them, she could see them all the same. She eventually learnt that she could ignore them, if she concentrated hard enough; Quinn was able to tune them out, well most of them. The more persistent ones always seemed to wriggle their way around her guard.

By the time Quinn was eighteen, the Fabrays were moving again, though this time it was for her father's work. They were moving to Lima Ohio which Quinn was all but pleased about, but she figured a fresh start wouldn't be so bad, at least in Lima, people wouldn't whisper about how the Fabray girl talks to herself.

* * *

Russell Fabray parked up in the drive in front of their new house. It was a little smaller than the one back in California and the neighbourhood was dead. No cars, no people outside- it was like a ghost town, an idea that sent tingles down Quinn's back. She shrugged them off as she stepped out of the car.

"Mom, dad, can I just have a look around town whilst the moving van sorts everything out?" She asked her parents, really hoping they'd say yes. There _had_ to be more to the town that what she'd seen. Her parents looked at each other and gave her permission, though she was told to be back before it got dark.

Quinn slung her shoulder back around her and felt the clunk of her SLR against her leg. She was always taking pictures, she found photography fascinating and had actually cried with happiness when her parents gave her the camera two years ago on her sixteenth birthday.

She walked north of the house, along a little path that seemed to lead away from civilisation instead of towards it. Quinn let out a frustrated growl when she realised she was heading nowhere. Tall trees shadowed over the path from both sides, blocking out most of the sunlight, holding a spooky air between them. Quinn shuddered and was about to turn around when something caught her eye.

At the end of the path was a broken down, deteriorated house. Bricks were missing, all the windows had either been smashed or were boarded up and vegetation had completely overgrown the area surrounding it, crawling up the frame of the decaying building.

Quinn grinned to herself. Maybe it was because of the whole connection she shared with ghosts, but she loved creepy, abandoned places. They made such cool pictures. She made her way towards the building, overstepping tall grass and weeds in the front garden. She stood in front of the door and gently tried the handle. To her surprise the door clicked and as she turned the handle, it opened. Cautiously, she stepped inside. The house inside looked just as declined as the outside. A ten inch layer of dust seemed to coat everything that was to be seen. Old, broken furniture littered the large hall way and there were bits of rubble and debris scattered everywhere. The best bit was the huge, open staircase that led up from the hallway towards the upper section. Quinn rifled through her bag, eager to get her camera out and take some pictures. This was by far one of the coolest abandoned buildings she had been in. Normally it was just warehouses which had long been emptied of anything of remote interest, so this house really was exciting for Quinn. It still held a story, something from when it was in its fullest, when people actually lived in it, when-

"Hello?" A sweet voice cut Quinn off from her thoughts. She whipped her blonde head around the house, looking for a person to match the voice with. "Over here," the voice giggled and she watched as a petite brunette started to make her way down Quinn's beloved open staircase.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know this house belonged to someone, I was just…" Quinn motioned to the camera in her hands as she fumbled over her words, feeling stupid for just walking in like that.

The other girl laughed an infectious laugh that Quinn couldn't help but smile at. She eyed the girl, she was beautiful. Wavy, chocolate brown hair with a set of matching eyes, her complexion was immaculately smooth with olive skin, and her lips were full, offering a huge smile to Quinn. The girl was wearing a navy dress, tied by a thin brown belt around her middle. Her flats slapped against the floor as she glided her way towards Quinn.

"Oh no, it doesn't, this place has been desolate for years. I just come here sometimes to… get away from stuff you know?"

Quinn smiled back this time. "Yeah actually, I mean, I love taking pictures of places like this. They just hold so much time, so many stories- it's fascinating to me," she said dreamily, unaware how intently the girl was staring at her.

"Rachel," the girl said, folding her arms behind her back and breaking Quinn from her trance.

"I'm Quinn, I just-"

"Moved here? Yeah I guessed as much. You don't really see people wondering around Lima with a tan like that," Rachel said, gesturing to Quinn's bare arms. Quinn laughed and shoved her camera in her back. She had a feeling she'd probably have to come back to get some decent photo's when there wasn't a distraction.

"So, _Quinn, _would you like a tour of the grand house?" Rachel asked with hint of sarcasm as she motioned around the crumbling building.

Quinn laughed lightly and nodded without a word. She'd only been in Lima for less than an hour, but already her previous outlook on the town had dramatically changed. This girl was interesting, Quinn could just feel it.


	2. Chapter 2

Rachel showed Quinn around the battered house. She showed her every single room there was, and Quinn lapped everything up, taking as many pictures as she could. The tour ended when they were stood at the top of the main staircase.

"This is my favourite part about the house," Quinn told Rachel as she gestured downwards at the steps. "Doesn't it just remind you of old movies? Minus the dirt and grime?" She looked at Rachel who now had a very fixed look on her face as she almost glared at the staircase.

Quinn waited for Rachel to reply, maybe let on as to why she was harbouring such a cold, unforgiving look on her face, but she never got one. Instead, Rachel turned towards her with a flawless smile.

"So are you starting at McKinley High Quinn?"

"Yeah, tomorrow. Do you go there? It'd be nice to know someone on my first day," Quinn asked hopefully.

Rachel shook her head and Quinn felt a small whelp of disappointment pang in her stomach. "No. I used to but, not anymore," Rachel told her, the flawless smile fading fast.

"What happened?" Quinn asked, overly intrigued and regretted being so nosey as soon as the words had left her lips.

Rachel smiled sadly at her, trying hard not to betray anything other than that. "It's a long story. Let's just say, I didn't fit in anymore." Quinn nodded sympathetically, still wildly curious but didn't wish to intrude on the girl's life, and after all, she'd just met her.

Quinn took some more pictures as Rachel headed down the staircase. She was sure she managed to capture a brilliant one of Rachel half way down the stairs, just turning around to look at her. Rachel met Quinn's hazel eyes, and Quinn noticed a slight crease form on Rachel's brow.

"You know pictures don't really take all that well in here? The light," Rachel waved her arms around the air, "is pretty bad."

Quinn laughed a little. "They might be okay, I mean, this camera is amazing. It can make even the dullest of things burst with life."

Rachel smirked, "Is that so?"

"I'll show you some of my other pictures some time, if you want to see them that is," Quinn said, not wanting to force anything upon the brunette.

However, Rachel grinned, "I'd love to. Do you have any from where you moved from? I've never been out of Lima."

Quinn nodded and immediately started to rattle off places she had both lived in and visited, telling Rachel about all the great shots she'd gotten from them. Whilst she was talking, Quinn nearly missed the pained expression on Rachel's face and wondered if she was saying too much.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to talk you ear off. Photography is just a passion of mine," she apologised.

"No, I was enjoying listening to you. I can only imagine what some of these places are like! I just wish I could see them for myself, not from a picture."

"Can't you? Even if it's not now, you could go travelling later or something?" Quinn lightly suggested, but it seemed that Rachel avoided the question.

"Why did you move around so much?" Rachel asked, cocking her head as she searched Quinn's eyes. Now it was her turn to avoid Rachel's question. She had no intention telling her about how she could interact with the dead. She'd just met her, and the last thing she wanted was to scare this girl off.

"Oh, um… my dad. His work means we have to travel a lot, it kinda sucks but I think we're stuck here for a while," Quinn lied, not as smoothly as she'd hoped but she prayed that Rachel bought it and didn't ask any more questions about it.

"Ah," was all that Rachel said as she tore her intent stare away from Quinn who looked at the floor uncomfortably.

"Well, I'd better be going. I'm guessing the moving van has dropped all our stuff off. I haven't even seen my new room yet," Quinn spoke, breaking the still silence between the two girls.

"Are you coming back tomorrow?" Rachel asked, shocking Quinn.

"Will you be here?"

"Yes."

"Then, I'll bring my old photographs to show you," Quinn beamed at a smiling Rachel.

"I can't wait. Oh and Quinn?" Rachel said, just as Quinn was about to leave. "Good luck tomorrow." Quinn nodded and smiled a thank you before leaving. Wondering why she would need luck. Was it really so bad?

Quinn gulped nervously as she fiddled with the cross that was hanging from her neck. The cold metallic touch always seemed to calm her down and reassure her.

By the time Quinn returned to her new house, the sun was already starting to fade and in the distance she could see the warm glow of an early sunset. Lima was no California but it was pretty great so far. Quinn just hoped that the new school wouldn't ruin it.

There was no moving van or boxes outside so she guessed that everything had been shifted into the house. She opened the front door and was greeted by the sight of dozens of brown boxes and bags all piled on top of each other.

"Quinn? Is that you honey?" Judy Fabray called from the living room.

"Yeah mom, it's me."

"Me and your father are just sorting some of the furniture out, all your boxes are already in your room if you want to go up? It's the first on the right," Judy informed her.

Quinn didn't really want to help in the living room as she figured that her dad was just sat down, watching her mother do everything for him and if Quinn went in, she just knew that the responsibility would fall on her.

"Yeah okay, I'll go check it out now," Quinn shouted as she trotted upstairs, taking two at a time. She came to a stop in front of her door. It was painted white but the metallic paint on the handle had been worn, revealing a new brassy colour beneath it. She opened the door to reveal a spacious room inside.

Her bed was beside a large window that looked out onto the path she had just walked from. She could even make out some of the features of the abandoned house from here. Her room also had a skylight which flooded the room with brightness. She also noticed, aside from all her furniture, every bit of her stuff was in a box or black bag, lodged in the corner of her new room. She didn't have any complaint about her new room. It had wooden floor and white walls which she knew she'd end up covering with pictures from her camera. The only things she thought might be a little troublesome were the two large beams that protruded from the wall, all the way along the slanted ceiling. She'd probably end up banging her head a few times.

About two hours later, Quinn had successfully unpacked every single box and bag. She'd put all her clothes away in her wardrobe and she'd found places for everything else. She stood in the middle of the room and looked around, feeling a wave of satisfaction wash over her as she rested her hands on her hips. It'd long gone dark outside and even though she had put curtains on her window, she didn't have anything to block the skylights. Though, when she looked up and out of it, she doubted she ever would. The sky was a navy colour with ripples of a slightly lighter blue surging through it. Hundreds of stars seemed to dot the dark blanket and sparkle furiously. She'd never seen anything like that in California. Quinn scrabbled for her camera and immediately took a picture, smiling to herself as another great shot was added to her collection.

Her parents had bought her a digital, Nikon SLR. Though Quinn had secretly wanted a film camera at the time, she soon learnt that the amount of money it'd cost her to develop pictures and buy film would be ridiculous. Whereas, she could simply upload her photo's to her laptop and press print.

She opened the lid of her laptop and shoved the camera lead into the USB port, waiting for the little icon to pop up. Her photo folder opened up and she began scrolling through all the pictures she had taken earlier that day. She paused more than half way down, staring confused at one picture in particular. It was the picture of Rachel on the stairs.

She opened it for a bigger view, wiping her forehead in confusion. The rest of the picture was fine, but Rachel's face had been replaced with a large splodge of light, as though it had just been over exposed in that one area. Quinn frowned, as she remembered Rachel's warning about the house not always permitting decent pictures…even though the rest of them were fine.

Quinn closed the picture in frustration at her ruined shot. She was sure that the picture was going to look incredible. Instead, she sighed and turned her attention towards the rest of the pictures which were all alright. She printed a few off and along with some of her old ones, stuck them all over her white walls.

Quinn later had dinner, showered and got ready for bed. Feeling exhausted with the move. She got under the covers and lay back against the comforting pillow, folding her arms behind her blonde head as she stared out of the skylight. She still couldn't understand why it was just that one photograph that was exposed. After a while, she gave up thinking about it, her eyelids suddenly felt heavy and her eyes starting to sting a little. She glanced at the glittering stars one last time before rolling over and letting herself fall into a deep, welcomed sleep in preparation for her first day as a senior at McKinley high.

Quinn woke up from a deep, dreamless sleep as the alarm on her phone beeped loudly. She was tempted to put it on snooze but resisted the temptation. She hauled herself up right, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

She knew her mother would be up and would have also made breakfast, but her father would be long gone and already at work. The air was cold and took away any heat that her blanket had previously given her. She shuffled over to the wardrobe, rubbing her arms for warmth and pulled out a grey sweatshirt.

As soon as she stepped outside of her room, she could smell the delicious smell of sizzling bacon. _So good so far, _Quinn thought to herself as she sloped downstairs and into the kitchen.

Her mother was humming to herself but stopped when Quinn entered the kitchen and took a seat at the table. "Good morning honey, did you sleep well?"

Quinn nodded and yawned. She'd slept incredibly well. "Do you need a hand mom?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"No thank you Quinn, I've just about finished…here," she handed Quinn a plate with a bacon sandwich that was cut equally into quarters. Quinn put the plate on the table and hugged her mother as she said thank you. "You better hurry up and eat that. You still need to get ready. Your cars not been brought over yet, do you want me to drive you to school?"

Quinn thought about the offer. She'd prefer to walk and maybe snap some shots on the way but she had no idea where the school was so she thought it was best to accept. "Yeah, thanks mom," she smiled as she finished the last quarter of her sandwich.

She rushed upstairs and began her morning routine. She eventually decided to wear converse and jeans with a British Punk band t-shirt. She shuffled a cardigan over the top, just in case she got cold.

"Quinn? Hurry up; you're going to be late!" Her mother shouted from downstairs. Quinn grabbed her cross necklace off of her dresser and put it around her neck. She never went anywhere without it. Ever since her grandmother had told her it would bring her look she had worn it wherever she went. That point was only strengthened when she'd died and come back. She thought it was probably a bit childish to believe in fairy tales like that but she drew comfort from it.

"I'm on my way down," she replied to her mother.

The car ride was pleasant enough. It was mainly Judy telling her daughter all about her fabulous ideas on designing the house, except Quinn's room that was. She told her daughter she could do whatever she wanted with it… within reason. She then asked Quinn about where she went yesterday.

"Just around town, looking at the shops and stuff, but a lot of them were closed with it being Sunday." She hated lying to her mother but she knew that she'd only get a lecture if she told Judy that she'd been taking pictures in a house that could fall down any time now.

Her mother parked up on the curb and Quinn kissed her on the cheek before hopping out. "I'll walk back home later mom," Quinn told her, knowing she'd detour to the house on her way home.

"Okay hon, if you change your mind, let me know. Have a great day sweetie!" With that, Judy pulled away and began on her ten minute drive home.

Quinn turned around the face her new school. Kids were pouring into the door and a lot of them were hanging about on the steps out front. Quinn took a deep breath, trying to settle the rising heart beat in her chest.

She followed the signs to reception and was greeted by a bored looking, middle aged woman. Quinn cleared her throat and the receptionist looked up at her with all interest lacking from her face.

"Um, I'm Quinn Fabray; I'm new today so I don't-"

"Just take a seat outside the principal's office," she interrupted and waved a hand to a room behind her that harboured a few chairs. "I'll tell him you're here," she mumbled, returning to her papers and computer.

"Thanks," Quinn muttered sarcastically. She hoped that the students weren't as rude as her.

Ten minutes later, Quinn was still sat outside the principal's office and she'd started to wonder if she'd be here all day. She was pretty sure that first period had already started which meant she'd have to awkwardly walk in an interrupt a class whilst everyone stared at her. Great. As though she'd be yelling her thoughts out loud, the principles door opened and she was greeted by a short little Indian man.

"Good morning Miss Fabray, please come in and take a seat," he smiled quickly at her before returning to his desk. Quinn shut the door behind her and sat in the seat in front of his frayed desk. "My name is principle Figgins; I welcome you to McKinley High. I'm sure you'll find your experience here enjoyable and if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask," he told Quinn in a generic voice. She figured it was his standard welcoming speech to newbies. Still, she nodded and smiled. "Here are you papers, all the information about your classes and where everything is, is on there."

"Thank you," Quinn said politely as she took her papers.

"Do you have any questions?"

"No, that's everything I think I need," Quinn said, gesturing towards her papers.

"Well, first period has started so you should head to your first class. Have a nice day Miss Fabray," he called after Quinn as she exited the room.

She started to walk at a snail pace through the corridors as she examined the papers. According to these, her first class was English Language in room 18 with Ms Davison. She picked up the pace as she scurried through the hallway, checking the number on each door.

Finally, she was stood outside of her designated room. From outside, she could hear her new teacher already in full swing of teaching and she sighed heavily, knowing she was about to mess that.

She knocked twice on the door before opening and stepping inside the generic class room. Teacher and students turned to face her and she could feel her cheeks heat up with embarrassment.

Ms Davison walked over to her, offering a welcoming smile. "You must be Quinn Fabray, I was wondering when you would turn up," she joked. "You can take a seat over there," she told Quinn, gesturing to a couple empty desks at the back.

Quinn nodded in thanks and was relieved that her teacher hadn't made her go through the embarrassment of introducing herself to everyone. Though, as she walked to her chosen desk, she could still feel eyes follow her across the room.

"So as I was saying, there are all different ways that new words have entered the English language, borrowings, technology…" Ms Davison got back on track from when Quinn interrupted.

Quinn looked around and saw some people frantically scribbling notes down so she retrieved a notepad and pen from her bag and began to write notes. For the rest of the lesson that's how it went, boring but smooth, even though no one tried to talk to her.

As the bell rang, she checked on her time table again. Next she had a ten minute morning break; followed by psychology, stats, lunch break then biology and fine art to end her day. Fun. All Quinn really wanted to do was hunt for cool things to take pictures of.

Quinn swiftly left the class room in search of her locker. As she was walking along, she felt something collide with her shoulder, sending her crashing to the hard floor. She let out a surprised yelp and looked up to see what she'd walked into.

Her eyes met with a peroxide blonde's who was dressed in a cheerleading outfit with 'Cheerios' printed across it. The blonde looked around at her fellow cheerleaders then back down at Quinn and smirked at her.

"You really should watch where you're going new girl, you might hurt yourself," she said with fake sympathy. The other cheerleaders laughed and Quinn mumbled an apology as she shoved herself to her feet. "What was that? I didn't quite catch it," she said to Quinn who was gritting her teeth.

"I said sorry," Quinn said, gaze averted towards the floor.

"Whatever," the cheerleader said, flipping her long hair over her shoulder. "Just stay out of my way." With that, the girl and her group walked past Quinn, all of them giving her the same smarmy expression. Quinn congratulated herself on her friend making skills and skulked off to her locker.

The next two lessons were pretty much the same as the first. She went in, the teacher told her what to do, she'd receive her books then she'd sit alone at a desk and copy notes for an hour. Quinn knew school was boring but she had high hopes of making friends. She didn't have any back in California. People stayed clear because they thought she was crazy for talking to air, but here in Lima, no one knew about that part of her life so she figured she'd have no trouble with getting a group of friends. She didn't even have one. Her mind skipped back to yesterday, the house and Rachel. Quinn smiled. Oh yeah, she did.

When lunch break started, Quinn found herself sitting at a table alone in the cafeteria. She picked at the less than appealing lunch food and wondered when the hell this day would be over. Someone cleared their throat to the right of her and she looked up to see a pretty red headed girl staring down at her. She was dressed in the same uniform as the girls from that morning. Quinn gulped and felt her stomach churn. She really wasn't in the mood for another bitchy encounter.

"Hi," the girl said in a pleasant voice as she smiled at Quinn.

"H-hello," Quinn replied, starting to become slightly confused. Was this the build up to a prank?

"Can I sit with you?" The girl asked, looking at the seat across from Quinn.

"Yeah sure," Quinn said sceptically as she pushed the chair out with her foot. The girl smiled a thank you and sat down.

"My name's Amy, you're Quinn right?" Quinn nodded, still on guard. "I saw you this morning, I realised you're new. I also saw what those other Cheerios did to you and I want to apologise on behalf of them. Holly, the blonde one is the head cheerleader and she goes around treating people like dirt because she has her loyal pack of hyenas to back her up," Amy told Quinn who couldn't help but laugh at the comparison.

"I'm fine really. I get it a lot," Quinn told Amy, lowering her voice as she realised the cafeteria had died down. She looked around, people were staring at her, the way they used to stare at her in California. Quinn's face heated, she knew it was too good to be true! Holly was obviously planning something and she sent Amy here to ignite it. Quinn sighed. "Look, whatever you're here to do to me, just get it over with, fast okay?"

Amy looked confused and even a little hurt. Quinn felt guilty for a slight second before she remembered Amy was only being fake. "Quinn, I don't know what you mean. I'm not here to do anything to you; I just wanted to ask you something."

There is was. The moment which hit Quinn like a tonne of bricks. This girl really hadn't intended to humiliate her, but as Quinn looked around she saw that everyone was looking in her direction. Some were snickering; some were looking at her in complete disgust whilst others were laughing loudly with their friends, making no attempt to hide their amusement whatsoever. Quinn hated herself more than anything in that moment. She should have realised that Amy was a ghost! She was so desperate for interaction and clouded with scepticism that she didn't notice the way Amy's shoes made no sound against the floor or how she made no noise when she sat down.

"Oh Quinn, I really didn't mean to- I'm so sorry!" Amy apologised as she tried to comfort Quinn by touching her shoulder but her hand passed right through. Quinn's eyes were blurry with tears. She grabbed her bag and ran from the cafeteria, wishing to be anywhere but here in that moment. She'd officially destroyed her reputation before she even started properly and now everyone would know her as the 'crazy chick'.


	3. Chapter 3

Quinn had locked herself in a bathroom stall. She sat sideways on the seat and rested her legs against the wall. She was breathing deeply as she tried to control her body urging herself not to breakdown and cry. She didn't know what to think or what to do. _Everyone _had seen her talking to 'herself', and now everyone thought she was crazy. She didn't know if she could go through with it again, even if it was just for a year. The bullies at her last school's had been horrible.

She leant crossed arms on her knees and buried her head, letting out a groan. What the hell was she supposed to do now? She couldn't hide out in here for the rest of the school year. She suddenly found herself wishing that she had taken Rachel's advice more seriously. _Rachel._ At least there was one person that didn't think she should be locked up in an asylum… not yet anyway.

"Quinn?" A voice cut her off. She recognised the voice and scowled into her arms.

"Go away Amy," she snapped.

"Quinn, I'm so sorry, I thought you knew I was a ghost, I-"

"If I knew, I wouldn't have had a damned conversation with you in the cafeteria!" Quinn growled, immediately covering her mouth. She was being too loud. She sighed. "Look Amy, sorry for yelling. I just, I just don't want another school to think I'm a freak show."

"I just, couldn't resist talking to you. It's been incredibly lonely for me since I died a year ago and I didn't even think people like you existed so I got excited," Amy explained. Quinn's head popped up and looked towards the door with a question dancing on the tip of her tongue.

"How did you know that I'd be able to see and hear you?" Quinn asked, curiously as she felt her anger being replaced by interest.

"I could sense it just by looking at you. Almost like a tingling rush throughout my body."

"Huh, no ghost has ever told me that before," Quinn mused.

"Have you ever talked to one long enough to ask?"

"No. I don't make a habit of talking to them, looks bad on my sanity," Quinn half joked half snarled.

After a moment in silence, Amy glided through the door, making Quinn jump a little. Amy looked at her and smiled sympathetically. They sat not saying anything for a while until Amy noticed Quinn fiddling with her camera from inside her bag.

"What do you take pictures of?" Amy asked, breaking the stillness.

"Stuff," Quinn replied casually as she seemed intrigued by her device. She stopped and looked towards Amy, leaning her head back against the stall wall. "I wonder what ghosts look like on pictures?" She said thoughtfully.

"You've never tried to take a picture of one before?"

"No," Quinn said, angling her camera towards Amy. The camera flashed and Quinn waited for the picture to process.

"What's it like? Do I even show up?"

"I don't know yet, its'-"Quinn cut off her words, her smile fading fast, only to be replaced by a heavy, pulling feeling deep in her stomach.

The picture of the bathroom was fine and you couldn't see Amy at all, but there was an over exposure, almost like a glowing bubble where her face should have been. Quinn felt her mouth go dry as she remembered she had seen this in another recent photograph. _Was Rachel a ghost?_ That was the first thought that exploded in her mind, followed by a dozen others.

She thought back to their encounter yesterday, gulping hard to ease her dry throat. Rachel's feet had slapped against the floor, she had definitely heard them. Her breath had even caught in the air; she'd never seen a ghost do that before. So, if Rachel wasn't a ghost, what caused the over exposure? Quinn turned away from Amy, muttering that the photo was 'cool'. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

Quinn hauled herself from her seat and walked right through Amy, feeling a shiver ice down her spine as she walked out of the bathroom. She looked back but didn't see the ghostly cheerleader following her. She let out a breath of relief, only to hear a snicker to her left. A tall boy wearing a football uniform walked past her, laughing into his hand as his fellow jocks were whispering and laughing to each other. She kept seeing people look up and look away with a smirk on their faces or sometimes they'd stare at her with a mocking expression.

Quinn kept her watery eyes glued to the floor as she battled her way past shoving people on their way to homeroom. She glided through the door and took the back seat in the corner of the room.

Shortly, the room filled with students and a teacher. The man began to take students names, but when it came to 'Quinn Fabray', she felt her face heat up as people giggled and snickered in her direction. The teacher ushered the class and continued as Quinn could feel herself slinking down in her seat.

Although Quinn was sat at the very back, by the time the bell rang, she was already halfway out of the door. She was desperate to just go back to when it was a couple of hours ago and she was still just the invisible new girl. She came to a stop in front of her locker, only to be met by the sight of Holly and her followers. Quinn's breath caught and she felt a little dizzy. There was no doubt as to why Holly was here. She must have heard what happened in the lunch hall.

"Oh hey Quinn," Holly said with a slight bitterness betraying her fake niceness. Before Quinn had time to respond, Holly continued, "That is your name isn't it? You're all that anyone has talked about this lunchtime." Quinn felt her heart drop in her chest and her mouth dried up. "You want to know what they're saying?" She asked Quinn, a malicious smile spreading on her glossed lips.

Quinn looked away and shook her head, opening her locker. She bit her tongue and jumped when Holly's hand slammed the locker shut.

"They say you talk to yourself. That you had a full blown conversation with no one in the cafeteria. You know what else they say? That you're crazy," Holly ended in a stage whisper as she and the other Cheerios broke off into girlish laughs.

Quinn ducked her head and bit her lip, forcing herself not to cry. She wasn't about to give these girls any more material.

"Hey! Holly!" Quinn's head shot up as a new voice echoed across the hall. The defiant voice belonged to a tanned, dark haired girl that was accompanied by a taller, blonde girl. They were both dressed in Cheerio outfits and marched their way over to the group. "How about you stop being such a bitch?" The new, dark haired girl said to Holly, looking straight into her eyes. She was smiling but her eyes were cold and daring the girl to argue back.

Holly smiled back and tilted her head. "Whatever Santana, I suppose I really should listen to the _vice-captain_," she mocked Santana who had desperately competed with Holly for the title of captain. Holly never failed to bring it up in a conversation as she knew Santana simply couldn't stand the fact that she hadn't been chosen.

Santana chewed her bottom lip angrily and the tall, blonde girl placed a hand on her shoulder as she watched Holly turn their back on them. Santana bristled and stomped forward, grabbing Holly's long ponytail. The head cheerleader let out a small cry as she tried to remove Santana's hand.

Eventually, some of the other cheerleaders pulled the two apart and Holly shot a distraught look at Santana who was yelling in Spanish whilst gripping on to stands of Holly's blonde hair.

"You're still being a bitch Holly!" Santana called after the fleeing group of other cheerleaders as the taller Cheerio gripped her around her waist. Holly looked back over her shoulder with anger seeping from her face. She gave Santana one last cold stare before turning forward and carrying on through the halls.

"She could never be a unicorn," the tall blonde said quietly and seriously as she watched them leave.

"I know Britt," Santana huffed as she composed herself. They both smiled at each other and linked pinkies. They then looked at Quinn who was still stood against her locker after witnessing the whole charade.

"Don't worry about Holly, she's just jealous because you're hotter than she is," Brittany told Quinn.

"That, and she can't seem to find her way out of her own ass," Santana added callously.

"Thank you," Quinn simply said.

The cheerleaders smiled. "I'm Santana, this," she motioned to the left with her head, "is Brittany. It's Quinn isn't it?"

"Oh, so you've heard about me then," Quinn said dismayed.

"If you mean about your issue of talking to yourself, then yeah. People over exaggerate things so much," Santana told Quinn in reassurance.

"Yeah, I mean, you should see the way people look at me when I tell them Lord Tubbington washes the dishes and cleans the floor," Brittney chirped in.

Quinn raised an eyebrow and looked at Santana who guessed what Quinn was wondering.

"Her cat," Santana cleared up.

Quinn's eyes glittered as she laughed, realising this was the first time she had felt at ease all day. The bell rang to signal fourth period and Quinn quickly grabbed her books out of her locker.

"We've got class to go to, so we'll catch you later Quinn," Santana waved over her shoulder as Quinn watched the two girls leave. Maybe she could still make some friends after all.

The rest of the day went by without a hitch- apart from the odd smirk or laugh- and as the last bell rang, she suddenly remembered she was going to see Rachel in the house. She still didn't know what the make of that picture. After all, Rachel had made noise with her feet and ghosts definitely couldn't do that. She decided she was going to have to test this.

As she walked away from McKinley, she couldn't shake the tugging feeling in the back of her mind that she was missing something, but as she approached the old house, every thought was replaced with ghosts and Rachel.

Quinn gently pried open the door and slipped in, sidestepping past some broken wood. "Hello?" She called in to the air, though nothing responded. "Rachel, you there?" She waited a few seconds, starting to become doubtful that Rachel was even going to show.

"Quinn?" Rachel appeared in one of the side doors, smiling that huge, beautiful smile at Quinn. Quinn's gaze dropped to Rachel's feet as her pumps tapped on the floor, Quinn noted the noise indefinitely. Today, Rachel was harbouring a very casual look. Grey pumps, light blue jeans and a plain vest top. Could ghosts change their clothes? Or did they always wear what they died in? Quinn couldn't remember, she had never really talked to a ghost long enough to notice.

Rachel stopped short in front of her, raising her brow. "Is everything okay Quinn? You look a little dazed."

Quinn's eyes snapped to Rachel's and she saw genuine concern held within them. She rubbed the back of her neck, feeling her short, blonde hair brush over her fingers. "I'm just tired, you know, first day of school and all. I've been used to getting up at ten every day, not half six."

"How was it?" Rachel asked, looking Quinn up and down.

"It was…interesting," Quinn told Rachel, wishing she wouldn't continue the conversation any further. She had no desire to tell Rachel how people already thought she was the school freak.

"Did you make any friends?"

"Who are you, my mom?" Quinn giggled back at Rachel who grinned. "But yeah, actually I did. Two Cheerleaders."

"I'd guessed as much, you've got an amazing figure, plus you're drop dead gorgeous, I'm surprised they've not forced you to join their team yet," Rachel chirped, causing Quinn to blush.

"I don't think I could ever see myself in one of those uniforms," Quinn confessed.

Rachel looked at her playfully and wet her lips. "I wasn't talking about you being a Cheerio, maybe just the mascot or something," she said to Quinn with a wink, in an attempt to cheer the blonde up. Quinn laughed as Rachel's plan worked. She went to playfully hit Rachel's arm before she knew what she was doing.

Just as her hand came close she remembered her theory about Rachel being a ghost. She'd finally know what the deal was with this girl, but did she even want to know? Her heart flooded with surprise and warmth as her hand made contact with Rachel's solid arm. Quinn simply started at her hand for a minute as she processed what that meant. Her arm was cold, but it was solid. Did this mean that Rachel wasn't a ghost after all?

She finally looked up at Rachel, who seemed equally surprised. "Sorry," Quinn mumbled embarrassed.

Rachel shifted in her stance and fixed her gaze on Quinn, studying everything about the girl. "You know what I heard today?" Quinn felt her heart speed up just a little. Did Rachel know?

"Um, what?" Quinn asked tentatively, not really sure if she wanted to know.

"That you talk to yourself," Rachel told her without a hitch in her voice, as though it was completely normal.

Quinn's heart jammed and caught against her ribcage. She searched Rachel's eyes but became even more panicked when she couldn't read Rachel's expression.

"I-I don't, I, "Quinn spluttered, unsure of how Rachel had found out. Quinn started to panic, unsure of what she was about to do but in her scattered thinking, the truth seemed like a logical idea.

"I don't talk to myself," Quinn finally managed to get her sentence out. Rachel cocked her head childishly, waiting for Quinn to continue. "I can," Quinn started, attempting to take in as much air as would fit in her lungs, "kind of talk to dead people." There it was, Quinn's deepest and darkest secret finally out in the open to someone other than her parents. Quinn realised Rachel was the first person she had told ever since Quinn figured out that she shouldn't tell people.

Quinn watched Rachel, anticipating her response. She still couldn't read Rachel's expression but finally Rachel spoke, "I know," she told Quinn gently.

Quinn frowned in utter confusion. What did Rachel mean? How could she have possibly known that? Quinn was about to open her mouth to bombard Rachel with a thousand jumbled questions but Rachel beat her to it.

"I've got to go Quinn. Come back tomorrow? Oh, and bring those photographs, because you know what else I know? That you forgot them," she said to Quinn, winking as she started for the stares. Though, she was right of course, Quinn had forgotten them.

Quinn watched Rachel's back as she sauntered upstairs. Quinn hummed to herself as she pulled out her camera in awe. Just who was this girl? Quinn took another picture of Rachel and waited patiently for it to show up on her screen. Again, all of Rachel could be seen, except for the splodge of light covering her face. Quinn huffed and looked up about to call out to Rachel and ask her why she was heading upstairs if she was heading out, but she had vanished.

"Rachel?" Quinn tested, waiting for a reply that never came. Quinn ran up the stairs, trying the right winged corridor first. She noted that there were three doors in this section. Two rooms were just filled with dust and debris, but as she came to the last door, it wouldn't budge. It had been locked.

"Rachel? Are you in there? I want to show you something," Quinn asked and decided to try the left wing when no one answered her.

She had no luck down the other corridor either. One room was completely blocked off by built up wood and rubble and the other two were empty.

She returned to the spot at the top of the stairs and sat down, resting her head in her hands and not caring that her jeans would now be covered in dust and dirt. Where had Rachel gone? Why was that room locked?

Quinn rubbed her temples, feeling the oncoming surge of a headache. She decided it'd be for the best to leave and come back to see Rachel tomorrow. At least then she could be ready with her questions.

Upon walking through the door to the new Quinn Fabray household she was bombarded by her mother.

"Quinnie how was your first day sweetie? Did you make lots of friends? Are the teacher's treating you nicely?" Her mother asked her, all the questions coming out at once, making Quinn's head spin and pound even harder. She held her hands up, gesturing for her mother to stop.

"Whoa mom, chill," Quinn said, as calm as she could. Judy pouted.

"Everything okay honey? You seem a little tense," Judy pried.

Quinn let out a breath, knowing her mother wouldn't let this go. "It happened again," Quinn stated.

Judy Fabray pulled her daughter into a hug. "It'll be okay sweetie, it's only another year. People will probably have forgotten all about it in a couple of weeks' time," she said to reassure her daughter.

"It was in the middle of the cafeteria mom, everyone saw me talking to thin air."

Judy didn't reply, she didn't know how to make her child feel better so she just kept on hugging her until Quinn wormed out of the embrace.

"Do you want anything Quinnie?"

"Can I just go to my room? I'm not hungry, I don't want any dinner," Quinn asked drearily. Judy nodded and Quinn smiled once more at her mom before heading for the stairs.

Halfway up the stairs, Quinn paused, hearing her father's gruff voice sound loudly from the living room with her mother's which was trying to hush Russell.

"No, we're not moving again. What, just because the girl thinks she can see dead people. There are no such things as ghost Judy; you should know that, you'd be Naïve to listen to her. Sometime I swear it's just for the attention."

Quinn's mouth dropped and a static energy tingled in her finger tips as she seethed at her father's comment. Why the hell would she go to all that trouble to sabotage herself? To make her own life a misery when it came to school? She shook her head angrily. Obviously, her father didn't know his daughter like he thought he did.

"I know, I know she's sick Russell, but the doctors won't do anything about it, they say she's fine when she's clearly not! I just don't know what to do with her anymore." Apparently her mother didn't know her like she thought either.

Quinn quietly slunk into her room, closing the door softly behind her so that her parents didn't realise she had been listening. She paced around her room, unable to believe her parents. She'd always thought they had supported her. Quinn snorted. Looks like she was wrong.

She carried on seething until a dim light caught in the corner of her eye. It was coming from the window. From the abandoned house. Quinn slowly walked over to the window. There was a light coming from a window on the upper floor and Quinn knew exactly which room it belonged to. It was then that Quinn saw the subtle flash of brunette hair. She set her sights on the house as she tugged her shoes back on. Quinn then hoisted the window up and looked out and down at the drop.

It was a long way down but there was a sturdy drainpipe just to the side of her window ledge. She decided there and then that she was going to get some of her questions answered, whether Rachel liked it or not.

She climbed through her window and grabbed onto the drainpipe as she shuffled her way down. Everybody else thought she was crazy, except for this girl who seemed to think something else entirely different.


	4. Chapter 4

Quinn could hear the crunchy tread of stones underneath her sneakers as she walked towards the abandoned house. It was a cold night and although she appreciated the marvellous, clear view of the stars, she couldn't help but shiver as her breath hung in the air and her teeth chattered. She wished that she'd brought a coat as she was still in her band T-shirt from today.

She looked up in the direction of the nearing house. The light was still on. Quinn's mind started to bubble with the possibilities of what was behind that door. Was it actually Rachel? If so, what was she still doing there? And why did she lock the door? Quinn shivered again, not sure if it was from the cold or her thoughts.

Quinn stopped short as she reached the part of the path where the trees shrouded across. This bit of the path was almost completely dark as the vegetation blocked out the moon's light. She took a deep breath and buried her head into her shoulder, looking down at the shadowed ground. She could feel her heart beating fast as she started to become scared by the darkness and stillness radiating from this part of the path.

She had been scared of the dark ever since she was a child- when she'd started seeing ghosts. Sometimes, she used to wake up in the middle of the night, only to find someone in her room, but not all of the spirits that visited her were civil. One night, she had called out to the figure standing in her room. It was one that hadn't visited before and even at a young age she had a very bad feeling.

What happened next was something that Quinn had tried countless times to erase from her memory. As the figure turned to face her, she couldn't make out its features but the wash of fear that rolled over her as it started to walk towards her bed was unbearable.

The figure had said something, in a deep, gruff voice but Quinn couldn't understand what it was saying though she could tell it was looking straight at her with eyes she couldn't see. Then the spirit's arm had stretched out towards her and this time Quinn could the gleam of pointed nails against the beam of moonlight sifting through her curtains. At this point, Quinn could only simply watch, it was as though her overwhelming fear had plastered her to the bed. The figure then dove for Quinn and she had shut her eyes tight and screamed like never before as she felt a cloak of malevolence consume her.

Her parents had rushed into her room and as they turned the light on, all the evil seemed to fade instantly from her room. From then on, she had begged her parents to let her leave the light on at night. She had a few encounters like that sometime afterward as she grew older. She soon learnt that the light couldn't protect her. She realised that these ghosts were different, she wasn't even sure if they were previously human. They never asked anything of her, they seemed to just exist to scare her and cause her nightmares for months.

Quinn shrugged, clearing her head out of the memory and told herself to get a grip. She was nearly at the house and nothing bad had happened. Though, when she was stood on the doorstep she had noted that the light in the locked room had disappeared. She gulped hard, wondering if her need for answers was stronger than her budding fear.

Quinn knocked three times and waited for a response. The only one she got was the sound of her knocking echoing around the dank house. After a couple of minutes she turned the brass handle and opened the door. Quinn didn't step in, only poked her blonde head through the opening.

"Hello?" She tested. "Rachel? It's Quinn, I want to talk to you, I-" she was cut off by a loud clatter that sounded from upstairs that made her jump. "Get a grip Quinn, it's an old house," she muttered to herself in reassurance.

She waited, stood still half in, half out of the house, just in case she heard the noise again. Just when she was satisfied that nothing else was going to happen, she shifted through the door, closing it quietly behind her, even though in the quietness of the house, the click of the door sounded like a gun shot. She winced and scanned the almost pitch black house, looking for any sound of movement.

Her thoughts were constantly tracking back to the evil spirits of her childhood, no matter how much she tried to distract herself. Her fear had started to build rapidly and nothing seemed to simmer it down.

Quinn was breathing heavily, and the floorboards creaked loudly as she cautiously stepped towards the open staircase. She knew that she needed to go up there, to that room if she ever wanted to get some answers but she now, wasn't sure if her body and mind would actually let her do it.

"One step at a time, it'll be fine," the girl whispered to no one. Quinn congratulated herself as she was already halfway up the stairs, and she thought her fear was beginning to subside until another, impossible loud noise ignited her adrenaline, making her stumble and trip as she scrabbled the rest of the way upstairs. She ran down the right wing and launched herself against the solid, wooden door, cursing through tears as it refused to open.

"Rachel! Rachel! Damn it Rachel, let me in! I can't stand it in the dark, Rachel!" She yelled at the top of her voice, hearing it crack when she cried Rachel's name. Still, the door didn't budge and Rachel didn't appear. Quinn crumpled to the floor, leaning against the door as she buried her head in her arms, trying to control her panic attack. She'd almost forgot how afraid of the dark she actually was. Her arms were wet with tears and her breathing was rushed and hitched.

For a moment, she didn't know what to do, she didn't think she could even get up and make it out of the house without breaking down, but just then she felt in emptiness behind her as the door opened and cold hands gripped her around the waist, pulling her up and in the room.

Quinn tried to scream and fight her way out of the doorway but a small hand clamped over her mouth whilst a worried voice hushed in her ear. Quinn stopped struggling, instantly identifying the person as Rachel. She was pulled into the previously locked room and the door shut behind her.

"R-Rachel?" Quinn whispered with a shaky voice.

"Quiet Quinn, you need to be quiet!" Rachel scolded.

"Why? Rachel, what's going on? Tell me please?"

"Quinn! Be quiet, he's going to hear us!"

Quinn sat there in the darkness, stunned. Who was going to hear them? Was there someone else in the house?

"Rach, what's going on?" Quinn said almost silently.

"I can't Quinn, not now. I can't tell you now, you need to get out of here first and I'll tell you everything tomorrow, I promise, just please, stay quiet for now," Rachel compromised and Quinn nodded, even though she knew Rachel couldn't see her.

After a few minutes in silence, as they waited for something that only Rachel seemed to know, Quinn felt a body slide in next to her on the floor. A soft head of hair rested on her shoulder. Quinn's breathing seemed to calm and she felt more at ease with Rachel by her side. The girl was freezing, even though it wasn't all that cold in the room but Quinn didn't mind, she was thankful for the comfort.

Quinn then felt Rachel's head shift and realised her lips were inches away from her ear. "Go, now, come back tomorrow Quinn," Rachel breathed into her ear, sending a tingle throughout Quinn's body. The blonde slowly rose and Rachel opened the door. Then without thinking, Quinn ran from the room, down the stairs and out of the door, straight along the dark path without once looking back at the house.

Once she found her footing around the drainpipe, she climbed up and collapsed into her bed as her mind started to swim with questions that she hoped would soon be answered by Rachel.

Melodic birdsong is what woke Quinn the next morning. Her hazel eyes peeked open, squinting against the light. Her eyes stung from tiredness and her body felt as though it was doing its best to keep her under the warm covers. There was so much that worried her about today. School, the whispers and talks about her event yesterday, Holly, but most of all she was worried about going back to that house. Was it safe during the day time? She didn't think that Rachel would tell her to come back if it wasn't.

She hauled herself out of bed and started to get ready. She skipped breakfast and grabbed her bag and books on the way out of the door as she began her walk to school.

As she walked through the halls on McKinley she kept her head down, knowing that people were staring and talking about her. She found it odd that today, she didn't care so much. Maybe it was because she was tired, or maybe it was because her thoughts were otherwise occupied.

Quinn headed straight to the girl's toilettes, praying that no one would be in there other than one ghost she needed to talk to. Thankfully, the room was empty thought Amy was nowhere in sight. Quinn huffed to herself and suddenly wondered if ghosts could be called. After all, Amy had 'sensed' her ability so maybe it was possible.

She leaned against a sink and shut her eyes, focussing on Amy whilst silently calling her in her mind. At first, nothing happened and she shut her eyes to try again. She concentrated harder this time, focussing on Amy and then she felt it. A mental pop and when she opened her eyes, Amy was stood there, looking slightly bewildered.

"How did I get here?" Amy said, obviously confused.

"I, um called you," Quinn told her, not sure how Amy would react.

"You can do that? I mean one minute I was hanging around in my old room and the next thing knew, I was stood in front of you, here," she said, looking at Quinn in awe. "You're like some sort of ghost puppet," she joked and Quinn couldn't help but smile.

"I need to ask you something Amy." Amy cocked her head to the side, shooting Quinn a questioning look. Quinn took it as a cue to continue. "What do you know about that abandoned house in upper Lima?"

"What, the one on its own? With all the windows boarded up?" Quinn nodded and Amy let out a breath. "Well, I don't know how true the story is but, about eighty years ago, the man that lived there butchered his whole family and then killed himself. People claim that his spirit still haunts the place. After the family died, people tried to fix the house up and sell it, but whenever someone went in, there would always be weird stuff going on. Tools would sometimes go missing, things would break and fall over and sometimes, the workmen would get hurt in the strangest ways. That's why it's abandoned, no one wanted to buy it with its history and any renovations that were planned for it always seemed to go a miss."

Quinn gulped, was this what Rachel was going to tell her? "Have you ever been inside?" Quinn asked.

A strand of fear pulled across Amy's eyes. "When I was a sophomore, a few of us decided to camp out in there for a night, you know, just to freak ourselves out? None of us really believed the stories, but if I had the chance I'd never had gone into that place in the first place. It holds an evil air, y'know?" Quinn nodded hesitantly, she knew. She knew all too well.

Amy continued, "We were there for less than an hour when things started to get weird. We'd keep hearing unexplainable noises and one of the guys kept saying she'd seen someone on the stairs. Some things would even fall without a prompt, nearly hitting us sometimes. It was like someone was trying to evict us. Then I saw her."

Quinn's eyes met Amy's. _Her, _could Amy mean…?

"There was a girl, probably about the same age as us and she was sat at the top of the huge stairway, looking down at our makeshift camp in the hallway. I remember, she was wearing a summer dress and her long brown hair fell over her shoulders. After we saw her, we left quickly, completely freaked out."

That sure sounded like Rachel and Quinn felt dizzy. "When did you… die?"

Amy sighed in reminiscence, "The year after, I drowned when I and my friends went to a beach party. We thought it'd be a good idea to go swimming at night, completely wasted, but the waves were too strong." Quinn offered her a sympathetic look.

"You can't move on?" Amy shook her head.

"No. That's why I came to you yesterday, I thought you could help. I just needed to let my mom know that it wasn't her fault, just because she let me go. It was my own stupid fault. I visit her every day and even a year on, she's such a mess. I thought if I can just let her know somehow then maybe she'd finally stop hating herself. It kills me to watch her self-destruct."

"If you want, I could pass on a message? I could write it out and leave it for her?" Quinn said. Amy's eyes lit up and she beamed at Quinn.

"You'd actually do that?"

"Yeah, you've helped me today by telling me about the house so I think I owe you," Quinn told the ghost, smiling.

"Thank you Quinn, if I could, I'd hug you! Though, why did you want to know about the house?"

Quinn shook her head, not really wanting to drag Amy into it all. "It's just near my house, so I wondered what the history on it was, maybe see if it's good for pictures."

Amy's eyes became stiff. "I wouldn't go in their Quinn. There's something unnatural about that house. It's sinister." Quinn's heart thumped in her chest. She'd found that out the hard way last night.

After their encounter in the bathroom, Quinn headed to homeroom. She'd promised Amy that she'd help her soon, and Amy was more than content. The day couldn't have gone any slower for Quinn; all she wanted was for the day to end so she could finally get to the bottom of things with Rachel and that house.

When lunch time came around, she was sat on her own in the cafeteria. A tray plonked down across from her and she looked up to see Santana and Brittany looking at her pleasantly.

"Take it no one's sitting here," Santana stated rather than asked. Quinn motioned for them to sit down and they did.

"You sure you want to sit with the freak show? It might ruin your reputation," Quinn half joked.

"Like anyone would say anything to us. We're Cheerios," Santana said.

"Yeah, plus, San always slashes people with her viscous, viscous words," Brittany added, causing both Quinn and Santana to smile.

"Trust me Quinn, people are gonna shut up about it soon. I've been the talk of the school before, so I know," Santana explained.

"Why were you the talk of the school?" Quinn asked, unable to tame her curiosity.

"Because I love Brittany," she said simply, turning to the blonde cheerleader and smiling whilst taking hold of her hand.

Quinn looked down at her lunch, smiling. "That's stupid. Love is love, people should just realise that," she told the cheerleaders.

"Yeah well, not everyone's as accepting as you Blondie Locks," Santana said with a smile tugging on her lips.

Quinn enjoyed that lunch time. She liked the way that whenever Santana caught someone staring or making comments about Quinn, she'd stick up for the new girl. She enjoyed the conversation they provided, it almost made Quinn feel like a regular girl… almost. She doubted she could ever allow herself to be classed as normal when she talked to ghosts.

Finally, Santana addressed the dreaded event in the cafeteria yesterday. "So, is it actually true? About you talking to no one in the cafeteria yesterday?"

Quinn looked up at them, genuine curiosity was held in their faces. She bit her lip indecisively, wondering just how much of her life she was going to let these girls see. Eventually, Quinn sighed, deciding she'd tell them the truth.

"Kind of. Only, I wasn't talking to myself," she breathed. "I was talking to a ghost." There it was, she'd told them. She sat and watched the cheerleaders try to process what they'd just been told.

"You mean as in, dead people?" Santana asked, still a bit confused. Quinn nodded and Santana relaxed back in her seat.

"The girl I was talking to was called Amy, she was a-"

"Cheerio, right?" Brittany cut Quinn off excitedly. Quinn looked at Brittany questioningly.

"How do you know that?" Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I talked to her a few times when she was alive, she was nice. Sometimes, I think I catch a glimpse of a Cheerios uniform in reflections of things at school but when I look around there's nothing there. It's got to be her. You don't think Quinn's crazy, do you San?" Brittany asked her girlfriend who was still calmly sat back in her chair.

Santana looked at Quinn and sighed. "I'm not saying that I don't believe you or anything, but why don't we test it?" she said with a mischievous smile. "

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked, feeling the hairs rise on the back of her neck.

"I know this creepy place that we could do a séance or a Ouija board in," Santana told her.

"I don't know San, you shouldn't mess with things like that," Brittany said to the dark haired Cheerio.

"C'mon Britt, this girl says she can see ghosts, don't you think it'd be cool to actually communicate with one?" Brittany shrugged and looked at Quinn.

"I guess it's up to you Quinn," The blonde said.

Quinn didn't much like the idea, in fact, she'd even say it scared her a little but something inside of her refused to let this opportunity go- to actually prove that she wasn't crazy, that she really could talk to the dead.

"Ok," she nodded at the cheerleaders. "I'll do it."

Santana grinned at her, "Sweet. Tomorrow after school? I'll bring everything don't worry."

Quinn tried to smile back but it wasn't a real smile. She was still unsure of what she had just gotten herself into.

At last, the last bell rang, and Quinn was free to go. As she walked to the house, she looked up at the sky. It was still going to be light for another couple of hours or so. She breathed a sigh of relief. The light made things seem so much different. As she walked along the shadowed path, she never once thought about all the terrible things that could have been hiding in the trees like she did the previous night. She didn't even feel all that nervous when she was stood on the front step, but when she opened the door and saw Rachel already sat on the stairs, waiting for her- she couldn't help but feel a flutter in her stomach as her heart jittered.

Rachel wasn't looking at Quinn and the blonde doubted that Rachel even knew Quinn had arrived. Her usual deep, chocolate eyes were now distant and unreadable. She looked as though she was in a self-debate and Quinn couldn't help but wonder if she was the cause of it.

Quinn accidently kicked a piece of rubble on the way in, knocking Rachel from her daze. Rachel locked eyes with Quinn and gave a small, welcome smile. She then stood up and brushed her dress down as she made her way towards Quinn.

"Don't ever come after dark again Quinn. It's not safe for you," the brunette told Quinn with concern in her voice. Quinn wanted to know why it wasn't safe, who exactly 'he' was and if it was all connected to the mass murder than Amy had told her about.

"Rachel, what-" Quinn started but was cut off by Rachel pressing a finger to Quinn's lips. The coldness of her touch made Quinn flinch.

"I'll answer everything you want to know, but first, I need to show you something," Rachel stated in a calm, controlled voice, as if she had been thinking about the decision for some time.

Quinn nodded and took a breath. She'd have to be patient and do it Rachel's way if she wanted any clarity at all. Rachel looked down and Quinn's hand, taking it within hers. Quinn's eyebrows shot up. Why was this girl so cold to touch? Still, she didn't let go. She was mildly intrigued as to why Rachel had a hold of her hand. The petite brunette tugged the taller girl towards the door as they took slow steps. Quinn could see the heaviness in Rachel's face; she knew whatever Rachel was about to do would be big on her part.

They were almost towards the door when Rachel looked to Quinn, then out of the door. "This is what I need to show you." And with that, they stepped out into the open.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **_ I know how much you all hate me after that cliff hanger ;D  
Thank you for reading, enjoy! _

* * *

Quinn wasn't sure as to why Rachel was leading her out of the front door. She wasn't sure what Rachel was about to reveal to her and she wasn't sure why Rachel was still holding her hand. The gesture had made Quinn feel slightly calmer and comforted and she began to wonder why there was a slight flutter in her stomach every time she laid eyes on the brunette.

The corners of Quinn's mouth subtly downturned as she stepped out of the front door and realised that Rachel was no longer holding her hand. She felt strangely disappointed by the missing touch and she looked down at where their hands had once been linked.

Quinn stopped walking, simply staring down. Her eyebrows had knitted together in confusion whilst her hazel eyes were wide and questioning. Rachel said nothing. She simply looked at Quinn, reading the mass amount of ever changing expressions that crossed the blonde's face. She waited for Quinn to say something.

"How?" Quinn whispered. She was staring down at her hand. Rachel had never let go of her, instead her hand was passing right through Quinn's. Quinn's eyes shot up to Rachel's and she locked onto them, searching everything in the chocolate orbs. "You're a ghost?" Rachel nodded. "But, how? I _felt _your hand Rachel, I could _hear_ your footsteps- hell, I could even _see _your breath!" Quinn wasn't so much angry as she was shocked and intrigued as she almost shouted at Rachel. Quinn raised her previously captivated hand and tried to touch Rachel's cheek, flinching slightly as it passed through. A small tingle tinged her fingertips and spread up her arm. She pulled her hand away, satisfied that Rachel was actually a ghost, but that still didn't explain how she had appeared human.

Rachel sighed and broke Quinn's stare, instead looking up to the baby blue sky. "I'll tell you everything I know Quinn, but it's a long story so you might want to sit down," she said, motioning to the stone step in front of the door. Quinn perched on the edge, still looking at Rachel, who sat next to her. Quinn remembered the last time she had sat next to her, in that room, how she had felt solid but _cold. _She had never met a ghost that could appear human before.

"How are you-" Quinn started but Rachel held up her hand, motioning for the blonde to be quiet. Quinn bit her lip in frustration.

"All in good time Quinn. I'll start from the beginning shall I?" Quinn nodded eagerly; slightly annoyed that she couldn't just ask Rachel everything there and then. "I died five years ago. I was a senior at McKinley High, I was prom Queen and I had just led the Glee club to a victory at nationals." Already Quinn was captivated. She wasn't surprised that Rachel had been prom queen, after all, she was gorgeous and as for glee club, she secretly wished that she'd be lucky enough to hear the ghost sing. "Sometimes, when my dad's would argue with each other, I used to get out of the house and go anywhere for a while to get away from it. Then one day, I found this place," she said, waving a hand behind her head. "I remember some kids at school mentioning it, saying that some guy killed himself and his family here and that it was haunted, but I didn't believe in such things back then. So, nearly every day, after school, I'd come here for a couple of hours, y'know, before it got dark? Just to be on my own in a place that was silent and argument free for a while. Things were okay at first, I mean, sometimes, things would fall over on their own, or I'd hear something I wasn't quite sure was real but it didn't freak me out." She looked at Quinn seriously; her deep, brown eyes welled with emotion. "I swear to God Quinn, if I had the chance to go back in time and change me ever finding this place I would." Quinn looked away, unable to hold Rachel's unsettling stare but she placed her hand on top of Rachel's, slightly disappointed that her gesture was in vain as it simply passed straight through Rachel's ghostly hand. Rachel shrugged at Quinn and decided to continue with her story. "Anyway, one time, the arguing was really bad between my dads. They'd woken me up and I had a test the day after so I climbed out of my window and decided to try and get some peace at my beloved house. I'd never been after dark so at the time, the idea of it seemed weirdly exciting. I had brought a sleeping bag and supplies and I was fully intending to camp out, my dad's would never even realise I'd gone. Only, it didn't go to plan at all.

"The last thing I remember from my human life was standing at the top of that huge stairway, about to find somewhere to sleep. Then I heard him. A man's voice called my name, but the voice was deep and malicious and I remember this feeling of coldness and evil wrap around me like a blanket." Quinn's head snapped to attention. She remembered experiencing that exact same feeling that night when she was a child- were these spirits alike? She was brought out of her thoughts as Rachel began to speak again. "I remember shivering and shouting 'who's there' into the darkness, demanding to be answered. I remember something connected with my head, and it knocked me to the ground. When I stood up, my head was bleeding and I felt dizzy. By that point, I was scared out of my mind but then, I saw someone. It was just a shadow- or so I thought- but it was definitely human. Before I could run or even say anything, it started to move, the shadow became a person dressed all in black. I never got a look at its face until I felt hard hands shove me backwards- down the stairs." Rachel gulped; fear replaced anything else that was previously held in her eyes. "I remember it so clearly still. Its eyes were empty, black sockets and half of its head was missing, as though a close proximity gunshot had taken care of that. It had claws instead of nails and its teeth were pointed as it grinned when I began to fall. It was in that moment that I knew I was going to die. You know when they say your life flashes before you? Mine did. In the space of a few seconds, I realised that everything would change, I was about to leave everything I know behind, I was about to die. I didn't know where I'd end up or if anything would really happen and I think that scared me more than dying.

"But, when I opened my eyes, I was still in the house. I couldn't feel any pain, I felt absolutely fine, and for a second, I questioned whether any of it had actually happened, but then I stood up. I felt a rush of cold air, as though all the life and warmth had left me. When I looked down, I saw myself lying on the floor with a twisted, broken neck. I didn't know what to do, I remember thinking that it was all just a very lucid dream but as I ran out of the house and along the dark path, something stopped me. Physically stopped me, almost like an invisible wall, just at the end of the path.

"It was then that I realised I was trapped. That- that _thing_ had bound my soul to him and the house. As hard as I tried, I never escaped, so here I am today. I'm strongest when I'm in the house- where I died. I think it's the connection my sprit body had to my physical body or something like that. All I know is that in there I can be almost human again but out here, I'm invisible."

Rachel stopped for a while as she let Quinn try to comprehend everything she had just been told. They sat in silence for a while and Quinn just didn't know where to begin. She licked her lips nervously and broke the still. "Is that what was after me the other night?"

"If you mean the man who killed himself and his family in that house then yes." Rachel sighed. "I think that his soul was wrapped in so much anger and contained so much hate that instead of moving on- he became something else entirely- tied here by his own rage," Rachel said, beginning to shake her head. "Though I don't know what he became. All I know is that he's trapped me here and only appears at night. He used to chase me around the house when I first died. He would somehow hurt me, even though ghosts aren't supposed to feel pain. It was as though he was destroying me from the inside out. All I could feel when he was around would be like a huge black hole, sucking me in from my centre. It was horrible. But then, I found his weak spot." Quinn cocked her head in interest. "That room that's locked," Rachel jerked her thumb backwards, "the one I pulled you into? That was the only renovation that ever managed to get built to the house. It's not originally apart of the house so he has no control over it and can't get in. That's why I was in there, it's where I hide out at night," she told Quinn with a defeated smile. "You know, it's funny," Rachel said, slightly bemused. "I used to come to this house to escape my parent's arguing but when they found me the next day, I found myself wishing more than anything that I was still alive, listening to them ramble on at each other. Anything would have been better than dying here. I tried so hard to call out to them, to let them know I was here, but humans can only see me in the house on a full moon. I watched them breakdown and cry over my lifeless body and all I could do was sit there and watch them hurt. One day, they visited the house again but it was to say goodbye to the house. I'd always figured they had some clue that I was there all along, though they never said it. I remember them walking through the front door for the last time, talking about their new apartment in New York, and that was the last time I ever saw my dads." Rachel told this to Quinn, but she didn't seem sad whilst telling her. She almost seemed wistful, as though she had come to terms with the fact that she was no longer involved with anyone or anything from her human life anymore and Quinn realised that she had let them go a long time ago.

Quinn suddenly felt an overwhelming amount of remorse for the ghost, she almost felt like it was her duty to help this trapped girl move on, only she had no idea how she intended to do that. She stood up swiftly, facing Rachel. "I want to help you Rachel, I don't want to see you suffer in this house. It's not right; you should be living your afterlife!" She told Rachel sternly. Rachel looked at her in awe and licked her full lips.

"You really think that I've not tried everything I could? Face it Quinn, I'm trapped here. That's why, when I saw you, I didn't want to unveil all of this to you. All I wanted was for someone to make me feel slightly less lonely and I thought if I told you I was a ghost, you'd take one look at my huge mess and never come back again," she smiled and looked at Quinn in the eyes. "But I realised you weren't like that. Even after a couple of days I could tell you were different to most people. I don't know if it's your ability that made you that way but I felt like I could trust you- that's why I told you all of this, not because I thought you could help me. No offense, but you didn't even realise I was dead so I didn't think you'd hold much knowledge on the subject of helping me."

For a moment, Quinn felt hurt. Not only at the fact that Rachel had basically called her useless but also because she was right. Quinn had no clue about trapped spirits and how to help them move on- hell, she still had trouble distinguishing between the living and the dead. Then, a thought popped into her head.

"You said that this ghost- thing is what's keeping you trapped here? If we somehow managed to get rid of him, then surely that'd mean you were free?" Quinn said thoughtfully.

Rachel looked at Quinn whilst chewing the inside of her mouth as she mulled the idea over. "Well, I'd presume so, but the million dollar question is, how can you get rid of something like that?"

Quinn, for the first time throughout the conversation, gave Rachel a childish grin. "Did you ever see the exorcist?"

Rachel's eyes grew wide, filled with alarm. "No. Absolutely not. He's too strong, too dangerous and-"

"He's only solid and dangerous in the house yeah?"

"That's correct."

"Well then, if we lure him out and keep him out then we should be able to do it- without getting hurt. Or worse," she gulped the last part, considering the amount of danger she would be putting her and Rachel in if they did this.

"I suppose that _could_ work. If it doesn't, then you do know that he'd probably kill you and I don't even want to know what would happen to me," Rachel said distantly as she shuddered.

Quinn smiled and said, "He can't do anything to us as long as we're outside, we just have to figure out how to get him outside," Quinn said, mumbling the last part to herself. Rachel huffed, as she realised that Quinn had already made up her mind about her whole situation and she started to regret letting the blonde get involved, it was far too dangerous for a human and she didn't even know if an exorcism would work, after all this wasn't a silly movie. But the horrible thought of her being stuck in this house her whole afterlife almost made her want to believe it could. She had been increasingly lonely for five years, bored out of her mind during the day and terrified at night. She didn't want to live like this for eternity- she wanted to put her belief in Quinn and her newly formed plan.

"Is there anything else that you want to know Quinn?" Quinn shook her head and looked at Rachel. "Then, you should go. It's going to be dark soon."

"Will I see you tomorrow?" She asked the ghost hopefully, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm always here aren't i?" Rachel said with a tinge of bitterness as she stepped back into the broken building as Quinn followed.

Quinn didn't give Rachel time to react as she closed the gap between them and held the brunette in a warm embrace. Rachel was shocked, fully aware that this was the first time she had been hugged in five years. She let herself melt into the hug and place her arms firmly around Quinn's warm body. She let her head rest on Quinn's shoulder and found herself enjoying the sweet smell of shampoo. Rachel realised that she found some comfort in the things that she'd left behind in her human life in Quinn. It made her feel almost human again and in that moment she was grateful that Quinn had stumbled upon this tatty old building.

Rachel was the one to break the hug, increasingly aware that time was ticking and that day would soon be night, then Quinn would be in danger. She didn't know why but ever since opening up to the blonde, she felt a new connection with her, one that made her want to protect her and care for the dainty human.

"You should go," she said, turning away from Quinn. Rachel was sure that if ghosts could blush, her face would be the colour of a tomato right now.

Quinn tugged at Rachel's hand as she passed her. "Stay safe," was all she said, shooting Rachel a kind look before leaving the house and shutting the door behind her.

Rachel sighed, wiping her head with her hand and tucking stray locks of hair behind her ear. She began to head for her safe room and her mind swam with thoughts about what she had just told Quinn. She didn't know how Quinn would take it at first, but now, knowing that all Quinn wanted to do after hearing it was help her, she couldn't help but admire the human.

As Quinn walked home, she was still trying to process everything in a way that made sense. She understood that Rachel was dead and that this person or thing had her trapped. She also understood that it was dangerous but she felt obligated to help Rachel. Maybe it was because she was the first person that Quinn had met in Lima or maybe it was because she was the first person to treat her like a normal person. There was something else she liked about Rachel that she just couldn't work out and the thought seemed to become hazier as the air grew colder.

When she arrived home, her parents weren't in, though her mother had been home at least. There was a note on the kitchen counter saying 'Quinnie, your father and I have gone out for dinner, would have asked you to come but you're late so there's some food in the freezer, pick whatever you like. Love mom xxx'. Quinn crumpled up the note and opened the freezer. She wasn't all that hungry but found that she was harbouring quite the sweet tooth, so she grabbed a tub of chocolate chip Ben and Jerry's ice cream and a spoon from the drawer. She ventured to her room and sat on the bed whilst pondering over Rachel and stuffing her face with ice cream.

She wondered what it was like for Rachel to have lived in fear over something so terrifying for five years, having to lock herself away in a room at night, just so she wouldn't be tortured. Quinn shivered as she felt a wave of empathy wash over her. She figured it was like how Quinn felt as a small child, only worse, after all Quinn could tune ghosts out, but she doubted Rachel could.

Quinn also started to wonder if her newly formed plan would actually work. She figured that it wouldn't hurt to ask Amy if she knew anything about Rachel's situation tomorrow, though she doubted the ghostly cheerleader had been back there since they were scared off by Rachel. Quinn grinned as she realised that it had indeed been Rachel trying to shoo them from the house. She grinned even wider when she realised that Rachel was trying to save them, not hurt them. Any longer in that house and they'd have probably had a lot worse than things thrown at them.

A sudden thought crossed Quinn's mind. If she died in that house, trying to help Rachel, would that mean she'd be trapped there too? Quinn gulped as the realisation truly dawned on her. At least she wouldn't be alone; she'd have Rachel, a thought that offered her light at the end of the tunnel, though she'd be living in constant fear every night. Quinn shoved the spoon in her mouth again as her sweet craving nagged.

After nearly eating the tub of ice cream whilst lost in her thoughts, Quinn thought it best to finish homework and get ready for bed. She went to sleep with the light on that night. Something she hadn't done since she was younger. The thoughts about the dangerous ghost and her encounter with him yesterday suddenly made her very aware of the dark around her which brought up old fears and memories. Still, the last thing she thought of just before she fell into a deep sleep was Rachel and she couldn't help but drift off with a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.


	6. Chapter 6

"Quinn? Are you listening to me?" Santana asked sternly as she dragged Quinn from her daydream. Quinn looked at the cheerleader. It was the end of school and as agreed they were travelling to some 'creepy place' as Santana put it, to conduct a 'paranormal investigation'. Santana wouldn't tell her where this place was and Quinn just hoped it wasn't where she was thinking.

"Yeah," Quinn replied blandly.

"Really?" Santana said, raising an eyebrow. "Then what did I say?" Quinn looked at her blankly and Santana shook her head. "I was saying that this place we're going to is rumoured to be haunted, I guess with the ghost whisperer on our team we'll find out how true those rumours are," Santana said confidently.

Quinn groaned internally. She couldn't think of anything worse than experimenting with things like that in a haunted house, some spirits didn't appreciate humans meddling with their afterlife. She just hoped that if it was haunted the ghost wouldn't mind the intrusion.

As they walked further, Quinn started to realise that this was the path she took home every day and it wasn't until they walked past her house that her suspicions about the place they were heading to, were confirmed. She felt a heavy feeling knot in her stomach and she looked up at the fading sky. She hated the winter months sometimes, the daylight ended too soon. She just had to make sure that they were out of there by dark.

They walked under the looming trees on the path that led to the house and Quinn shuddered at the lack of light. Brittany noticed and looked at her with a sympathetic smile.

"You don't like the dark Quinn?" Quinn shook her head and Santana snorted. "Be nice San," she warned her girlfriend.

"Imagine that, the ghost whisperer's scared of the dark. How ironic," Santana joked.

Quinn glared at her. "I had bad experiences as a child," she mumbled at the Hispanic cheerleader, not caring to elaborate on the tortuous memories.

"I sleep with the light on sometimes," Brittany said. "Lord Tubbington's afraid of the dark too." That brought a smile out on Quinn's face as she chuckled, relishing Brittany's sweet nature. She looked at the two cheerleaders who were holding hands. They were complete opposites and it made her wonder if that's why they were so suited to each other.

"What're you staring at Blondie?" Santana remarked. Quinn shook her head, dismissing the question. "We're here anyway," she breathed and Quinn's head snapped up to the decaying pile of familiar rubble and bricks.

"Great," she sighed.

Brittany was the first to go in, skipping around the open hallway with a huge grin on her face. "Look San! Isn't it cool? I've never been in here before. I bet it was amazing when it was lived in." Quinn couldn't help but admire Brittany's innocence. If only she knew what lived in here now. Quinn felt a cold chill run down her back, causing goosebumps to erupt on her skin.

"You know what they say happened here?" Santana spoke up. Brittany shook her head.

"A man murdered his entire family right?" Quinn said and Santana nodded.

"Yeah. They say he was the town's doctor at the time. The family was loaded- hence the house- and everyone around town knew him and respected him. Then one day without any sort of prompt or warning, he came home and murdered his family. He killed his two children with a knife and then tried to hide their bodies under the floorboards. Then he found his wife in their bedroom and stuck the knife in her throat, waiting for her to die. He then shot himself with his own hunting rifle. Now they say his ghost is the one that haunts the place." Quinn gulped at Santana's story. Obviously the man had some psychotic disorder and she wondered if that trait had stuck with him after death to make him so hateful and dangerous. Brittany looked around the house silently and the joyfulness she had shown a minute ago had vanished, replacing the air with an eerie atmosphere.

"Quinn."

"Yeah?" She replied casually. She looked at Santana then to Brittany who looked at her confused.

"We didn't say anything," Santana told her, shrugging. Quinn's eyebrows came together in confusion.

"Over here Quinn," the voice sounded again and Quinn followed it, her gaze landing on Rachel who was sitting on the stairs. Rachel looked stern and serious and her eyes flashed over the two cheerleaders. Quinn watched her silently. "Why on earth have you brought those two here?" Rachel demanded.

Quinn knew she couldn't talk to Rachel directly. Well she could, but she wasn't sure that Rachel would like being exposed. "So Santana, are we getting started on the séance or the Ouija board or whatever?" She said, trying to sound nonchalant. She caught Rachel's expression. She was horrified and looked outraged.

"Quinn Fabray! You brought them here to do a séance? Do you know how stupid that is? In this house too!" Rachel was more or less shouting at Quinn who flinched under Rachel's angry tone.

"You okay Blondie?" Santana asked, noticing Quinn's pained expression.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just going to go check the house out upstairs; you know, get a feel for it and stuff before we start?"

"Good idea Quinn," Brittany said, smiling brightly at her. Santana snorted.

"Well hurry up, I want to start," Santana said bossily.

Quinn glided past Rachel, subtly tapping her shoulder for her to follow. Rachel huffed and glared at the cheerleaders once more before getting up after the blonde. Quinn headed into Rachel's room and the door shut forcefully behind her as Rachel stalked through.

"Are you insane? Wasn't the other night enough for you? He could kill you and your little friends Quinn, don't you understand that?"

"It's not dark yet," Quinn muttered, unable to meet Rachel's eyes. After all, she was right. This was a stupid idea and she should have stopped them from coming into the house. "I'll make sure we go before dark. They just wanted to see if I could talk to ghosts for themselves, and y'know I thought it'd be okay. I just wanted some friends Rachel."

She heard Rachel sigh and looked at her as she held a hand to her forehead. She thought that Rachel was about to blow up with anger but then a mischievous smile formed on her plump lips. "So they want to interact with a ghost?" Rachel said slyly and Quinn realised from her tone just what she was planning.

"Rach…" she warned.

"Oh c'mon Quinn, that's why you're here right? To get a thrill? Better that I do it now and freak them out so they leave before dusk and never come back." Quinn shifted her stance and chewed her lip thoughtfully. The brunette had a point, it would speed things along, Santana would get her thrill and Quinn would be able to prove that she really could talk to the dead.

"Okay, but nothing too bad. I still want them as friends by the end of this."

Rachel beamed and opened the door. "Go on _Blondie,_" she mimicked Santana's pet name. "Let's get this show on the road." Quinn rolled her eyes and stepped out of the room, venturing back downstairs.

"I thought you'd been stabbed and shoved under the floorboards," Santana addressed Quinn as she glided down the staircase. Quinn feigned a smile, feeling nauseous as she realised that if they weren't out before dark then that was a good probability. "So," Santana continued, "I brought a Ouija board. You've seen people in movies using them right? Everyone has to place their hands on the plectrum and then we can ask questions. Hell, I'll even light a couple of candles for good measure," Santana informed the other two girls as she pulled the board from her bag, starting to set it up.

Quinn eyed the board. It was wooden with the alphabet and numbers carved in on the centre and then 'Yes' in the upper right, 'No' in the upper left corner and 'Goodbye' at the bottom in the middle. Yes, Quinn had seen one before, but only in movies. She rubbed the back of her neck nervously as she remembered that things for the people using one in those movies never ended well.

"Okay good, now, Britt, Quinn, put your fingers one the edge of that," she motioned towards a thick, wooden plectrum that was placed in the middle of the board. "Would you like to do the honours Quinn?" she implied the blonde to start. "I mean, if you can talk to ghosts then they might want to talk back." Quinn nodded.

She was about to open her mouth when she felt something shift in next to her, feeling cold prick against her skin. She turned her head and looked at Rachel whose eyes were twinkling with mischief. "Yes Quinn, why don't you start?" Quinn glared at her without the other two girls noticing.

"Is there anyone there?" Quinn asked, feeling stupid. She knew damned well someone was there and that someone seemed to be lapping it all up. She looked at Rachel who stared at her. "Is there anyone there?" She said through gritted teeth, looking from Rachel to the board and then back to Rachel. Rachel leaned over to the board and edged the wooden block to 'yes'. Both of the cheerleaders squeaked with shock and let go.

"Did you do that?" Santana asked Brittany who shook her head. "You?" She said to Quinn who mimicked Brittany. They placed their hands back on tentatively. "Ask it what its name is," Santana told Quinn.

"What is your name spirit?"

"You don't know my name? I thought we were getting along so well," Rachel smirked at Quinn who rolled her eyes, blinking to hide the gesture from the other girls. Rachel sighed and moved the plectrum to 'R' and then 'A', soon spelling out her whole name. The girls watched intently whilst Quinn watched Rachel.

"Okay, now what?" Quinn asked Santana who seemed to be controlling the questions.

"Ask _her_ how she died, was she the guys kid?"

Quinn repeated the question out loud for the benefit of the others, even though she knew full well that Rachel could hear. "This is kind of lame, I don't know how people made it seem so exciting in movies," Rachel mumbled, moving the plectrum lazily to 'No'.

"Is this ghost retarded? I asked her how she died too," Santana remarked. Rachel's face dropped and she leered at Santana. Brittany squeezed her hand, signalling her to not piss off the spirit.

"Your friend's rude Quinn," the ghost said, as she reached for the plectrum. Quinn had a feeling that these two would end up arguing despite the communication barrier.

Rachel spelled out, "Boob job." Santana stared at the board horrified and Quinn couldn't contain her smile as she heard Rachel laughing to herself.

"Son of a bi-" Santana started but was cut off when the plectrum bounced off the top of her head, courtesy of Rachel. Santana's gaze locked on to Quinn's. 'What're you smiling at Ghost Girl?"

"I don't think the ghost likes you very much San," Brittany said as she rubbed Santana's head. Quinn started to giggle again.

"Okay, what's going on Fabray? Are you doing this?" Santana accused and Quinn held up her hands defensively.

She sighed and realised Rachel had had her fun. She looked at the brunette ghost.

"You might as well tell them about me," she told Quinn.

"I can see the ghost," Quinn told the girls, seeing their heads snap up in attention. Santana narrowed her eyes.

"You've seen her this whole time?" Quinn nodded. "And you let her throw a chunk of wood at my head?"

"I didn't know she was going to do it, she said you were being rude," she told Santana, licking her lips.

"Rude? I swear to God, if she was alive, I'd show her some Lima heights hospitality," Santana grumbled and Quinn saw Rachel roll her eyes and lean into Quinn's ear.

"Just so you know, that's one of the richest places in this town, her hard-ass image isn't fooling anyone," Rachel informed her.

Quinn managed to keep a straight face. "I've been here before on my own, so I already know the ghost here. I wanted you to get a thrill first though. She was only having fun." Santana crossed her arms and grumbled to herself.

"Can I tell them how you died Rach?" The ghost nodded in approval. She informed the girl of Rachel's past, letting them know about the vengeful ghost that killed her and keeps her trapped to the house. "So, we need to leave before it gets dark or-"

"The boogeyman will get us, yeah got it," Santana retorted. Quinn shook her head.

"Seriously. The ghost is dangerous. It's malevolent and consumed by rage and if we're still in here by the time night rolls around, he'll definitely take it out on us." Santana seemed to take Quinn's tone more seriously and gave a slight nod.

"So you're trapped here Rachel?" Brittany asked the air, looking around for any sign of the ghost. Quinn answered for Rachel and Brittany smiled in her direction.

"I don't mind this girl," Rachel told Quinn. "She's sweet and polite, unlike her friend."

"Girlfriend," Quinn corrected.

"Oh," Rachel said, holding Quinn's gaze as a cute smile formed on her lips. Quinn felt that flutter in her stomach again and a feathery, warm feeling tingled over her skin. She shrugged it off, noticing the two cheerleaders looking at her questioningly.

"She thought you were friends," Quinn explained.

"What about you Casper? You got any ghostly _friends_?" Santana asked sarcastically.

"No, but I've got my eye on something," Quinn repeated Rachel, cocking her eyebrow at the response. What did that mean? Did Rachel have other ghosts that she talked to? She'd never mentioned anything about it to Quinn. Quinn looked at Rachel who seemed to be purposefully avoiding the blonde's eyes.

Santana was about to open her mouth again when a piece of rubble whizzed past her head, barely missing her. Santana fumed, looking angrily at Quinn.

"You tell your little ghost friend that if she doesn't stop throwing things at me then I'm going to cross over to the afterlife and kick her ass myself!"

Quinn turned to Rachel but stopped short of saying anything when she noticed the fearful expression on her face.

"You didn't do it, did you?" She asked Rachel, wanting more than anything to prove her wrong, but the brunette shook her head as her chocolate eyes danced around the house, searching for something. Santana and Brittany looked at Quinn. "We need to leave. He's getting stronger now that it's getting darker. Trust me Santana; he won't miss the second time."

She felt cold fingertips graze her hand and then lapse into her palm. "Please go Quinn, before he hurts you," Rachel told Quinn, her eyes sparkling with worry. Rachel Squeezed Quinn's hand and regretted letting go.

The three girls did as they were told and swiftly left the house, breaking into a run and only stopped after they'd reached the end of the dark path.

Santana caught her breath and looked at Quinn. "Well, I guess you're not crazy then," she said, grinning and laughing to herself. Quinn imitated her and joined in laughing. After the girls had caught their breath and gotten over the shock that Quinn could actually talk to ghosts and that they were nearly the victims of an enraged spirit, they said their farewells.

"Well, Britts and I are going back to my place, I'd ask you to join but it's kind of a two person thing…if you know what I mean." Quinn looked away awkwardly at Santana's forwardness and nodded, saying goodbye until tomorrow.

When Quinn stepped through her front door, she was immediately confronted by her mother who was holding a glass of red wine in her hand. "Where have you been Quinn? You've not been coming home until late at night and I know it doesn't take that long to get home from school."

Quinn was shocked, not because she was getting yelled at but because her parents had actually noticed. Normally they pay her as least attention as possible, probably figuring if they ignore their crazy daughter then they don't have to deal with the aftermath.

"A friend's," she told her mother.

Judy sighed. "It's not another ghost is it Quinn? You know how your father and I feel about that."

Quinn looked away guiltily, tipping her mother off.

"Quinn, this needs to stop. We've put up with it for thirteen years! We were convinced it was just a phase, like some children create imaginary friends but you're eighteen now Quinn, you're not a child anymore! You need to let go of this fantasy world you live in and grow up!"

Quinn winced and felt a lump of anger and sadness bundle in her throat. Her mother was slightly tipsy and she could smell the stench of alcohol on her breath. "I thought you believed me mom. I thought that out of all the people who thought I was crazy, you were the ones that believed me!" She raised her voice to her mother, getting angry.

"Just stop it Quinn!" She screamed at her daughter, back peeling in shock as she watch her daughter lift her hand up to sooth her tingling cheek where Judy had just slapped her. Quinn's eyes glittered with tears as she looked at her mother in horror. "Quinn, I'm sorry, I-"

"You're my mom. You're supposed to stand by me," Quinn all but whispered before silently turning towards the stairs, leaving Judy stood alone in the hallway.

Quinn slammed the door behind her, finally letting her tears run down her face only to stand still when she noticed she wasn't alone in her room.

"Amy what are you doing here? How do you know where I live?" Quinn asked, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.

"I looked it up in your school records. I just wanted to tell you what I want you to write in the letter to my mom," she said smiling. Quinn gave her an exasperated look.

"I'm kinda tired Amy, can we do it tomorrow?"

Amy rubbed her own arm. "Yeah that's cool. Hey, are you okay Quinn?" she asked as she noticed the tears and Quinn's flushed complexion.

"It's just my mom. I've found out that they're not as supportive as they'd like me to think."

"They don't believe you?" Amy asked, sounding genuinely shocked.

"Doesn't look like it," Quinn said, shaking her head.

"Where have you been anyway? I've been waiting here for nearly two hours," Amy said gently, trying to distract Quinn from their previous topic.

"I was at that house. I introduced Santana and Britt to Rachel."

"Rachel?" Amy asked as Quinn realised she hadn't told her about the brunette yet.

"She's a ghost there; she's my friend I guess. Actually the first person to talk to when I moved here."

"I've never talked to another ghost, what's she like?"

"She's sweet and caring and she makes me feel normal you know?"

Amy looked at her knowingly, obviously realising something that Quinn didn't. "Can I meet her? As I said, I've never met another ghost. Maybe she could help with my situation?"

Quinn laughed, "She's got her own situation so I don't know about that." She quickly filled Amy in on everything, frustrated that she was repeating this story for the second time today.

"Wow, that sounds horrible, I'm glad I'm not her." A thought dawned on Amy and she looked at Quinn curiously. "Was she the ghost that tried to chase us out when I camped there with my friends?"

"Yes, but only so the malevolent spirit wouldn't kill you, otherwise you'd end up trapped, just like her," Quinn explained.

"Wow, now I really want to meet her. I guess I should say thank you. At least there's a chance for me to move on, though I feel bad for her."

"Yeah, she's thoughtful like that," Quinn mused.

"So tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow what?" Quinn asked.

"Can I meet her?"

Quinn thought about it seriously, wondering how Rachel would react to another ghost in the house. "I guess, but just as long as we're out before dark. We need to keep track of time." Amy nodded excitedly.

"Tomorrow it is then. I'll let you do your homework or sleep or whatever now. I can see you want to be alone," she said kindly and Quinn nodded a thank you as Amy glided right through her door.

Later that night, as Quinn settled down to finish her Biology homework she happily realised that she now had more friends after moving to this town than she'd ever had in her life…even though two of them were dead. She chuckled to herself and began to concentrate on covalent bonds and glucose. She wasn't complaining at all.


	7. Chapter 7

"Quinn?" The blonde started to stir as she felt a gentle hand shake her shoulder, prying her from her dreamless sleep. "Quinn sweetie?" Quinn's eyes blinked open as she recognised the voice as her mother's. For a moment she wondered if her mother had really slapped her and yelled at her last night but the slight sting on her cheek confirmed it had happened. Quinn sat up in bed, looking at her mother in confusion. Why was she being so nice? Was she going to apologise?

"What time is it?" Quinn croaked through sleepiness.

"Half past six honey, I woke you up a bit earlier because there's something I need to discuss with you."

Quinn stared at her mother as she felt her stomach flip. Whenever her family had something to 'discuss' the end result never favoured her. She sucked in some air as she waited for her mother to continue who was now fussing over a stray bit of cotton on her cardigan. She looked up to meet Quinn's questioning expression.

"You're father and I have agreed that it might be best if you go and talk to someone again, because-"

"You want me to see _another _shrink?" Quinn asked angrily. Her parents had taken her to a total of seven psychiatrists over the years. The last session had been when she was twelve years old so the thought of seeing one again after all this time seemed stupid. They had all told her parents that she either had an 'over-active imagination' or it was 'just a phase'. Not one of them ever believed her for a second so why would this new one be any different?

"Honey, we just think that now you're eighteen, you're more eligible for diagnosis- that's what Dr Shepard told us over the phone," Judy told her daughter, trying to sound as genuine as possible so as not to anger Quinn even more.

"You've already phoned one up? I can't believe this!" Judy flinched as Quinn pushed herself out of bed and created as much distance between her and Judy as possible by standing on the opposite side of the room. "There is nothing wrong with me! Why won't you believe me?"

"Because normal people don't see ghosts Quinn! They don't exist!" Judy snapped, looking down at the floor as she desperately tried to keep calm, already regretting her outburst. She looked at Quinn's face hesitantly. Quinn looked hurt most of all and her hazel eyes bore into her mother's.

"You don't think I'm normal?" Quinn asked. Judy opened her mouth to reply but no sound passed by her lips so she closed it and looked away, unable to give her daughter an answer. Quinn scoffed. "I'm not seeing a damned shrink," she told her mother before storming out of her room. She let out a cry of shock as her body collided with another. She looked up to see her father standing in front of her with a stern posture.

"Oh yes you are young lady. I've had it up to here with your ghost stories. You need to realise that whatever you think you're seeing does not exist," Russell sighed and rubbed his unshaven chin. "Listen honey," he said as his voice softened, "you're unwell, you need some help and this guy- Dr Shepard- he's supposed to be damned good at what he does, so you're seeing him, tonight at half past eight."

Quinn realised that her parents were adamant on her seeing a psychiatrist, even if it meant dragging her there. She sighed. "Fine. I'll be home about half six, just before it goes dark," she muttered.

Russell's eyebrows shot up. "Where will you have disappeared to for nearly two hours?"

Quinn met his gaze, determined not to let the lie show on her face. "I'm taking pictures."

Russell grunted at the reply and was shortly joined by Judy who failed to look Quinn in the eye. The blonde turned back towards her room, hearing her father call out behind her, "Don't be late! I'm not paying nearly $150 for nothing."

She shut her door behind her and collapsed onto the bed. She was still fuming about having to be put through this torture again. She hated everything about psychiatrists. The questions they asked her, the way they tried to twist everything she said but most of all, she hated the look in their eyes when she told them she could interact with the dead. They automatically assumed she was messed up and Quinn hated being judged like that, she hated that they wouldn't just believe her.

He gaze danced over to her beside clock and she groaned as she realised she now had to get ready for school- another thing she hated almost as much as shrinks. Though, at least she had Brittany and Santana.

Quinn sat in homeroom; doodling over her notepad as the register was taken. Even still, when her name was called out, she would still hear whispering or catch the odd stare in her direction. It seemed people hadn't totally forgotten Monday's incident yet. As soon as she could, she escaped the room and headed straight to study hall for first period, thankful that she didn't have a lesson. She was still far too angry to concentrate properly.

After about ten minutes when Quinn had found a table and had begun to copy out English notes she heard, "Pssst." She looked up curiously and was met by a blonde cheerleader who was grinning like a five year old on Christmas day. She offered Quinn a little wave and mouthed, "Hi." Quinn returned the gesture and motioned Brittany over as she was also sat on her own.

Quinn frowned when Brittany sat down without any school related equipment whatsoever. "You do know you're in study hall Britt?" The cheerleader smiled and nodded.

"Yeah I know. I mostly come in here and just sleep or whatever but you're here now! There's no one in to talk to on Thursday first period usually." She looked at Quinn with a face full of interest and Quinn sighed to herself as she realised that she'd probably get very little done this hour.  
"Are you seeing Rachel again tonight?" Brittany asked excitedly. Quinn nodded. "Tell her I say hi? It was really cool meeting a ghost- though I don't think Santana thought so. I don't think the two like each other which is a shame because it'd be super cool if we all got along."

For the next forty minutes, Brittany talked and talked about everything. Rachel, Santana- she even started on ghost movies and questioned Quinn if they were realistic tp her. Normally Quinn hated people who didn't stop talking but she didn't mind listening to Brittany, and even if she did, the girl was far too sweet to be told to shut up.

By morning break, Quinn was piling books into her locker, ready to go and see if she could find the two cheerleaders. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of a Cheerio uniform and she smiled. Only when she turned to the figure head on did her smile falter. Holly was stood in front of her with her hands on her hips, glaring at Quinn as the rest of the Cheerios- minus Santana and Brittany- copied her. Quinn held the head Cheerio's stare, refusing to let this girl think she had something over her.

"Where's your little guard dog?" Holly asked as she noticed the lack of Santana.

Quinn continued to glare at her and gritted her teeth to stop her from retorting. The last thing she needed was more negative attention; it'd only give the bullies something else to taunt her with.

"What's up Quinn? Ghost got your tongue?" Holly and the rest of her followers snickered. Quinn rolled her eyes and slammed her locker shut, heading towards the nearest bathroom, but to her horror the squad started to follow. She noticed one of the other cheerleaders hand something to Holly but she didn't have enough time to catch what it was before she turned around.

She entered the bathroom and sure enough a few moments later, the squad also entered, completely backing Quinn against the wall. She could now see what was in Holly's hand, it was a blue slushie. Her brows furrowed and she noticed Holly harbouring a cruel smile as she edged closer.

"Shut your eyes Quinn," a voice to the side of her said. She glanced to her left, noticing Amy leaning against a stall door. Quinn barely had time to comprehend what Amy had told her before an extremely cold, textured liquid hit her face. She shut her eyes tight and gasped, tasting the blueberry flavour as her mouth opened from shock. The slushie went up her nose, all over her hair and it dripped down the front of her top which sent shivers tingling right down to her core.

She heard Holly drop the cup to the floor as she cackled, exiting with her team as they left Quinn stood there, covered in what was essentially blueberry flavoured ice. Humiliation swam in her veins and for a moment she wasn't sure if she was going to scream or cry.

"It'll wash out, but you need to do it quickly," Amy said caringly. "Just rinse your hair off in the sink and your clothes the best you can and it shouldn't stain." Quinn nodded as she squinted her way towards the sink, following Amy's instructions. "I can't believe they did that to you," Amy said quietly.

"I can, Holly's a bitch," Quinn scoffed as she rinsed her face off. She heard Amy sigh to herself and wondered what the girl was thinking about.

"She never used to be like that," Amy told Quinn.

"Really? Could have fooled me, seems like she's been a pro-bitch for a _long _time," Quinn said bitterly, realising she shouldn't take her anger out on Amy.

"She really didn't. She was my best friend right up until I died last year. Then she seemed to change so fast. She became cold and cruel and it hurt me to watch her become like that. I guess she just takes her emotions out on people," Amy explained sadly.

"Yeah, well I just wish she didn't take them out on me," Quinn mumbled as she squeezed blue water out of her hair.

"She targets you because of what happened in the cafeteria."

"Yeah, I know that. I'm the school nut case now remember?" Quinn snapped, unable to control her temper.

Amy sighed and rubbed her forehead. "She targets you especially because of that. That night we went camping, Holly was there too. She saw your friend on the steps too and I think she was the most freaked out of all of us. After that night, she wouldn't watch or read anything with ghosts in. So when she heard that you were talking to 'thin air' I bet she guessed you were perfect to vent on."

Quinn looked up to see a saddened Amy and she suddenly felt awful for snapping at her. "Do you miss her?"

"I miss the old her," Amy said. "But not everything lasts forever," she said with a sympathetic smile. Her eyes glanced to the round clock that hung above the door. "Including morning break. You better finish up and get to second period."

"About tonight," Quinn started, "Should I meet you in here or at the house?"

Amy smiled, "I'll be here." Quinn nodded and continued to wash the blue gunk off of her clothes.

School had ended and Quinn and Amy were stood outside the abandoned house. Quinn looked at Amy, noticing her shift uncomfortably as she looked the huge, crumbling building up and down. Quinn was the first to move and she pushed the front door open, letting it glide through the air until she could see the insides from the doorstep.

She stood there and tried to see if Rachel was around but nothing stirred. She looked back to Amy and motioned her to follow her inside. "Rachel?" Quinn's voice echoed through the house and a slight chill made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"Is she home?" Amy asked as she looked around the deserted house.

"She's trapped here, so I'm presuming so," Quinn said quietly. "Rachel? It's Quinn, where are you?" She called again, this time beginning to make her way upstairs with Amy hot on her heels.

"Quinn? I'm in my room," Rachel's distant voice called out. Quinn felt the familiar warmth flood her belly as the brunette's soft voice intruded her ears and she started to take the steps two at a time.

The door to Rachel's room was slightly a jar so Quinn quickly knocked twice before entering. To her surprise, she saw the brunette sprawled out on the floor, reading a magazine.

"Where did you get that from?" Quinn asked Rachel who still hadn't torn her gaze away from the magazine's glossy pages that were filled with gossip, celebrities and fashion.

"It was in Santana's bag. I didn't think she'd mind me borrowing it, after all, we got on so well," Rachel said casually as she turned another page. "I've not read one of these things since before I died," she stated before looking up at Quinn. At first she looked happy but then her eyes clouded as her gaze focussed past Quinn. "Is there someone else here? C'mon Quinn, after last time, really? Just please don't tell me you're back for another Ouija board session, I don't know how much more Santana can take being thrown at her," Rachel said with a smirk.

"Um, no it's not Santana or Brittany, I brought my friend Amy to see you," Quinn said as she stepped in to allow Amy and Rachel to see each other properly. "She's a ghost," Quinn said with a small smile.

Quinn noticed Rachel's expression briefly turn cold before a slight smile replaced it. "Hey," Amy said, grinning at Rachel as she recognised the ghost who had made her and her friends leave the house last year- though Rachel didn't seem to share her enthusiasm.

"Hello," Rachel replied briskly before standing up and brushing herself down.

"She was wondering if you knew anything to help her cross over, she's kind of stuck too," Quinn explained. Rachel's eyes flickered over to the other ghost and her stare grew hard.

"If I did, I wouldn't be here," Rachel said curtly, surprising Quinn with the edge in her voice. What had gotten into the little brunette?

"Well, Quinn suggested writing a letter to my mom, telling her not to blame herself and that I love her and stuff- do you think that'd work? I mean it's a good idea and-" Amy started but was cut short by Rachel whose eyes had narrowed on the girl.

"Like I said, I don't know. I wish I could help, but I can't. You're wasting your time here," Rachel told the other ghost bluntly.

"Oh," was all Amy could say as she broke Rachel's harsh stare and looked down towards the ground.

The air fell silent and seemed to fill with tension. Quinn really didn't know why Rachel was acting like this. When it was just the two of them, Rachel was the sweetest person that Quinn knew but now she was acting entirely different.

"I need to go, I'll see you tomorrow Quinn. Thanks anyway Rachel," the ghostly Cheerio mumbled, still keeping her gaze averted.

"Are you sure?" Quinn asked, slightly confused.

Amy quickly looked at Rachel then back to Quinn before nodding and disappearing entirely.

"I wish I could disappear out of here like that," Rachel muttered to herself.

Quinn turned sharply towards the ghost. "What's gotten into you Rachel?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Rachel replied though Quinn could tell the falseness in her voice.

"I mean, why were you acting like that to Amy? She only wanted some help, she's trapped to you know," Quinn said with a tinge of anger in her voice.

"Trapped? Didn't she just leave this place? At least she's not confined to the same old place every day. Seriously, do you know how happy I was when I took this from Santana's bag?" She waved down at the magazine. "I've been here for five years Quinn," Rachel snapped.

"I get that, I do but you didn't need to be so harsh towards Amy, she's a really nice girl you know," Quinn said softly, hoping her calmer tone would benefit the conversation.

"Whatever," Rachel mumbled as she shrugged.

"Fine. I guess I should leave to," Quinn said coarsely as she turned her back on the ghost. She was nearly out of the door when she felt Rachel's cold hand clasp around hers and tug her back. Rachel breathed a sigh and Quinn stopped but didn't turn around.

"I'm sorry. I guess I'm just bitter that I'm trapped here and she gets to leave just like that, and-" Rachel cut her words off which caused Quinn to turn around and look at her curiously.

"And?" Quinn goaded.

Rachel took in a breath and started to chew her bottom lip. "And, I also guess I'm a bit jealous."

Quinn's brow creased with confusion. "Why on earth would you be jealous?" she asked Rachel, trying to smile at how awkward the other girl was acting in that moment.

"I just… like the idea of being your only ghost friend," Rachel told Quinn, though Quinn knew there was something else that Rachel wasn't telling her though she decided not to question it for now, knowing that if she did, the ghost would probably retreat into an even worse mood. Instead she pulled the ghost into a hug and felt the other girl's cold body against hers as her arms wrapped around Quinn.

"Stop being silly," Quinn simply said and she felt Rachel smile into her shoulder. Rachel pulled away slightly and looked up at the blonde. Their faces were inches away from each other and Quinn didn't understand why her heart was suddenly beating that bit faster or why her breath had hitched but she did know that Rachel had noticed as a grin tugged on her lips. Quinn's face heated and she broke the closeness, looking away as she blushed. "I can't stay for long," Quinn said quietly.

Rachel's grin faded; the corners of her mouth slightly downturned. "Why not?" Rachel queried.

The question caused Quinn's face to heat even more as the thought of telling someone that they had to see a shrink seemed so degrading. "Some stupid family thing," Quinn lied.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Okay, now tell me the truth," Rachel said smirking as she saw right through Quinn's lie.

Quinn growled with frustration and embarrassment. "My parents are making me see a shrink," she said, avoiding Rachel's eyes.

"They really don't believe you do they?" Rachel stated as she began to close the gap between them once more. Quinn shook her head and flinched when she felt ice-cold fingertips press against the slight sting on her left cheek, soothing the pain slightly. Quinn didn't have to tell her where the mark had come from, Rachel had already guessed and sympathy glistened in her chocolate eyes. "I'm sorry about that," Rachel whispered, still looking up at Quinn and still touching her cheek.

Quinn didn't fully understand what Rachel was doing until the ghost's surprisingly soft lips brushed against her own. Quinn's heart was beating even faster and her hazel eyes shut instinctively as she felt herself briefly kiss the brunette back before her eyes flew open and she broke it off, staring at Rachel- who looked surprised at Quinn's reaction. Quinn's mouth opened and shut a few times but she couldn't quite get the words out, she didn't know what to say, she didn't know what to think so she ran.

As she ran down the stairs she could hear Rachel call her name out from behind her, even when she was out of the house, Rachel's voice still seemed to echo throughout the air and Quinn could hear the hurt held within it. Tears of frustration sprung to her eyes as she tore along the dirt path, back towards her house.

Quinn didn't run because of the kiss. The kiss had made her realise what all the little jittery, warm feelings had been, why she felt so drawn to Rachel but most of all, it had made her realise that maybe, just, maybe she had developed feelings for a ghost but despite that, Quinn knew no matter how hard she tried she wouldn't be able to keep away and that terrified her more than anything.

Quinn shut her door and sat with her back against it as she buried her head in her hands. "What the hell am I getting myself into?"


	8. Chapter 8

Dr Shepard drummed his fingertips repeatedly on the arm of the black, leather chair. It had been twenty minutes since the start of Quinn's session and not once had she said anything to the psychiatrist. She sat in an opposing chair with her arms crossed and a stubborn look on her face as she stared directly at the psychiatrist.

She studied the age defining lines on the shrink's face, each one seemed to add another year, but also seemed to emit a knowledgeable persona. His hair was short and Quinn could just tell that the ash-brown colour was from a bottle, most likely to cover grey hairs. But the most defining feature about this man that Quinn took in was his eyes. They were a pale blue but as they stared right back at Quinn, she thought they harboured a cold, closed minded quality. As he stared at Quinn she knew that he had already made assumptions about her without her even saying a word. She couldn't wait to see what she would be labelled as this time; surely they couldn't tell an eighteen year old that they had an over-imagination.

Dr Shepard sighed as he rubbed his shaven, squared chin and he cleared his throat. Quinn kept her eyes firmly placed on the man, hoping to make it as uncomfortable for him as possible but he didn't seem fazed by her behaviour which made Quinn wonder just how many people had sat in this chair before her.

"There are forty minutes left of your session and you've not spoken a single word. Is there anything you'd like to do with the rest of your time, or would you just prefer to sit here in silence for the remainder of the hour?" His tone was bland and slightly sarcastic, holding little emotion- but Quinn knew that he was growing tired of the silence. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she realised that he was quite the impatient man. Quinn simply shrugged and remained silent.

The man licked his lips and broke eye contact with Quinn to collect a slim folder from the table beside him. He opened it up and began flicking through pages with various things scrawled onto them until he came across a certain one. "You say you can interact with the dead. What can you tell me about that?" Still she said nothing, only narrowed her eyes at Shepard's attempt to make her talk. "Tell me Quinn, the _people _you see and hear, what do they say to you?"

Quinn ran a hand through her golden hair as she glanced at the ticking clock. Her father would be angry if she went the whole hour without saying anything and she doubted she'd ever hear the end of it. "They tell me what they want from me," she said quietly but firmly. Immediately, Dr Shepard began to scribble on a note pad.

"What do they want from you?"

"They want me to help them move on, or sometimes they're just lonely," Quinn replied.

"Can you give me an example?"

Quinn huffed as she tried to recall something a ghost had wanted from her. "I met this ghost at my new school who wants me to write a letter to her mom to let her know that things weren't her fault."

Dr Shepard nodded and again wrote on his pad. "It's to my understanding that you're having…difficulties with your own mother at this moment in time, is that correct?"

Quinn's eyebrows knotted in confusion. "Yeah, so? Every family fights," she said, not quite sure where he was taking this conversation.

He swallowed and cleared his throat again before continuing. "Your parents have told me that you have always had trouble making friends, so could it be that because you find yourself with no one to talk to and express yourself with, that you're actually projecting your worries and stress?"

"I don't-" Quinn started but Dr Shepard cut her off, making her huff with frustration.

"You said that this ghost wants to make amends with her mother yes?" Quinn nodded, finally starting to see the route this conversation was heading and she felt the spark of anger ignite in the pit of her stomach. "So it may be that you're projecting the issues with your mother into this 'ghost' and her mother so by writing that letter for her mother, you're really saying all the things that you wish you could say to your own mom," he said blandly, as though he had cases like Quinn's every day.

Quinn gritted her teeth as she tried to contain her budding anger. He was basically telling her that because she felt 'alone' she created these ghosts up and made her own issue theirs- only Quinn knew that that wasn't true. She knew for a fact that the ghosts she saw were real, especially Rachel. Quinn could even _feel _her touch and that kiss was defiantly _not_ fabricated. She had felt Rachel's soft, plump lips against hers, the way that their lips had moved perfectly together, even though their encounter was brief. Quinn swallowed hard and pushed the memories back, not particularly wanting to deal with them now, though she knew she'd have to eventually.

"I'm not crazy," she said bluntly after a few minutes.

"I didn't say that you were Quinn, it's interesting that you perceived that though," he said as he scribbled again on his paper.

Quinn's anger was bubbling and she could feel the hairs on her skin rise as her anger tingled along them. "Can you stop that?"

He stopped writing and looked up at Quinn. "Stop what?"

"Writing every damned thing down!" She snapped as her annoyance peeked.

"It's my job Quinn, I have to make notes about you and analyse the things you say."

"Look, you can sit there and tell me all you want that I 'project my feelings' but I can tell you that the things I see are real. I'm not crazy and I don't need you to sit there and undermine everything about me as you obviously have already made up your mind that I must have some sort of disorder because _normal_ people don't see dead people, but you know what? Science doesn't have a damn answer for everything," she scoffed as she seethed in her chair.

Dr Shepard stared at her for a long time, as though mulling over each and every word she had just said, finally he reached for a smaller piece of paper and began writing on that one. Quinn rolled her eyes and slumped back down into her chair. She eyed the clock on the wall. Only twenty minutes left and she could get the hell out of there.

"I'm going to prescribe you Risperdal," he told the blonde.

Quinn's heart seemed to jam in her chest and she suddenly felt nauseous. "I don't need medication! I'm not-"

"Miss Fabray," he said as he tore off Quinn's prescription and laid it on the table in front of her. "You show a vast number of symptoms for Schizophrenia." The word hit her like an oncoming truck and she was pretty sure that she forgot to breathe. He really didn't believe anything she was saying, though why would he? He was so used to working with people that really did have disorders, so why should he think Quinn to be an exception? She sat there, unable to say anything, only stare at the piece of paper in shock. "Visual and auditory hallucinations are a common symptom, as well as social withdrawal, sudden outbursts of anger," he looked at her and raised an eyebrow, indicating her display only moments ago. "Take this to the pharmacy and they'll give you the tablets. Take them three times a day and continue to see me for weekly sessions and we'll see how you go along. Now, is there anything else you want to talk about or ask?" His expression was smug, as though he'd just won a game of 'crazy or not crazy', obviously defining Quinn as the former.

Quinn grabbed the prescription and bit her lip so hard she could taste blood and she shot to her feet as she headed to the door with fifteen minutes to spare. Before she left she turned around scowled at the psychiatrist. "Go to hell."

"See you next Thursday at half past eight," he calmly replied before Quinn stormed out, slamming the door behind her. She knew she was only fueling his thoughts about her having the disorder, but she couldn't care less in that moment.

* * *

Later that night, Quinn sat on the edge of her bed with a Risperdal between her thumb and finger. It was oval and green, probably the same colour as Quinn in that moment as she thought about her new label. She glanced up at her mother who was waiting patiently for Quinn to take the pill, seeing as she couldn't be trusted to actually take it alone. Quinn out air as she reached for the glass of water and reluctantly knocked the pill back- wincing as it proved difficult to swallow.

Judy smiled at her daughter and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It'll be worth it honey, I promise. Dr Shepard knows what he's doing." She left after that, shutting the door gently behind her.

Quinn remained sat on her bed, staring numbly at the glass in her hands. Tears began to well up in her eyes and her chest heaved with rage. She launched the glass at the door, watching it shatter off and sparkle under the artificial light coming from her ceiling.

She buried her face into her pillow and screamed, wanting to drive every single emotion out of her mind. She didn't want to feel like this, she didn't want to be labelled and she definitely didn't want to take those tablets when she knew damned well there was nothing wrong with her.

She cried and yelled into her pillow until it actually felt as though everything had bled out of her. She suddenly felt tired and subdued and she grew apathetic of everything else. She didn't know if it was the medication or the fact she'd spent all of her energy crying about it. Either way, she allowed herself to close her eyes and rest until morning.

"Is that everything you want to say?" Quinn asked Amy. They were hauled up in the school toilets as Quinn finished writing Amy's letter to her mom.

Amy nodded slowly. "I think so, read it back to me and I'll tell you if I want to add anything?"

"Mom, don't freak out as you start reading this. It's me- Amy. I wanted to tell you that I'm happy, and that my death wasn't your fault, so don't blame yourself for anything! You are the best mom in the world and I'm sorry for everything I put you through, including this. I want you to take this letter seriously and I want you to move on with your life, stop dwelling on the past, you can't change it. It's only holding you back and dragging you down and I don't want to watch you suffer so please, let me go. You know I'll always love you and I'm really sorry for breaking the microwave, I didn't know you couldn't put metal in there. –Amy." Quinn looked at a teary eyed Amy; she didn't even know ghosts could cry. The ghostly cheerleader licked her lips and nodded in approval.

"I'll take you to my house and you can just leave it on the doorstep for her," Amy sniffed. "You know, I'd give anything to be able to hug someone right now," she said half serious, half laughing. Quinn smiled sympathetically and went to hug her anyway, even though she couldn't feel anything and her arms passed through Amy. The ghost grinned and giggled whilst managing a quite 'thank you'.

Quinn hadn't bothered to tell Amy about the shrink or even her situation with Rachel for that matter. She didn't want to put extra pressure on the girl right at this moment- that and she didn't even know how she was going to explain her feelings for Rachel to someone else when she couldn't even explain them to herself.

Amy led Quinn to a semi-detached house. The front garden had been hugely neglected and she guessed as much for the back. The windows were dirty and the curtains were drawn. Huge, overgrown trees shrouded the house and kept it shadowed; Quinn shuddered at the negative vibe the place gave her. She could practically sense the sadness radiate from behind that paint-peeled door.

She walked up to the door step with Amy close behind her. She was about to shove the letter through the letter box when the door suddenly opened and she came face to face with a middle aged woman. She had red hair like Amy, though the woman's looked brittle and lifeless. There were dark circles under her eyes that indicated many nights of tossing and turning and she looked as though she could fall asleep at any moment. The woman glared at Quinn and tugged her bath robe tighter over her PJ's as a chill swept through the air. Her gaze slipped down to the letter in Quinn's hand with was titled "Susan"- the woman's name.

Without warning, she snatched the letter from Quinn. "What're you doing here? What is this?" she said slightly angry as she shook the letter. Quinn's nose wrinkled as she smelt the faint scent of alcohol on the woman's breath but she felt nothing but sympathy for her and she just hoped that she'd take the letter seriously. It was saddening to see someone suffer alone like this.

"Your daughter wanted you to have it," Quinn told her.

"My daughter's dead," Susan replied coldly.

"I know. I can," Quinn paused and took a deep breath as she hoped that the woman wouldn't laugh at her or chase her off of her property. "-I can see ghosts and I've been talking to Amy. She wanted you to have this letter because she thinks if you read it then she can be at peace."

The woman scoffed and shot Quinn contempt look, but still took the letter from the envelope. Quinn watched as the woman's distant eyes slowly became focused as she moved back and forth across the words on the page. By the end of it Quinn stood there, shifting uncomfortably as she waited for Susan to say something. This wasn't supposed to happen; Quinn wasn't supposed to be here when she read the letter.

"Is this some sort of joke?" Susan asked Quinn with a slight tremor of fear in her voice. "Did you come here to taunt me? I lost my daughter and you have the audacity to saunter up to my doorstep and leave this here for me to find? Who the hell do you think you are?"

Quinn didn't know what to say, she was literally lost for words but then Amy spoke up. "Tell her I'm here," she said to Quinn whilst remaining her fixed gaze on her mother.

"Amy's here," Quinn said quietly and watched as Susan's eyes clouded with rage.

"Ask her if she remembers the time I was seven years old and she took me to the Zoo and I cried because the tiger wouldn't come out of its shelter."

"She wants to know if you remember when you took her to the zoo and she cried because the tiger was in its shelter," Quinn told Susan, who looked at the blonde girl in bewilderment.

"How did you…?" The older woman began.

"Ask her about the time I was twelve and she got me a puppy for Christmas and the first thing it did was pee on the new rug, that's why there's a stain there," Amy said again and Quinn repeated it for Susan.

For a while, the woman didn't say anything, she simply stood there and stared at the blonde in shock but Quinn noted the belief behind her eyes and internally smiled. "Amy?" she spoke at last and looked around Quinn as if her daughter would materialise.

"She's here," Quinn said and motioned to her right. Susan's eyes locked onto the air at the right of Quinn and she smiled through tears.

"I'm not upset with you sweetheart," she addressed the air but soon looked back at Quinn when she spoke.

"I know, and you shouldn't be upset with yourself, please mom, let me go and stop hurting yourself, you did everything you could as a mother," Quinn struggled to get the words out, feeling a lump build in her throat.

"I will sweetheart, I will I promise, I just miss you so much and if I had just been a bit stricter then maybe you'd still be here," the woman broke off into sobs.

"Don't," Quinn started reciting Amy, "it wasn't your fault! I was the one who sneaked out of the house and got drunk. It was my fault entirely and you need to understand that, please mom, don't do this to yourself."

Susan nodded fragilely and whispered, "Okay darling, okay."

Quinn was torn from her emotions as a huge rush of air swept past them, making Quinn stumble. The air seemed to become heavier and she glanced at Amy. Quinn's eyes went wide as she saw Amy was engulfed in a bright light and she understood that her mother had finally let her daughter go. She smiled sadly as she watched the light grow and she noticed Susan was squinting.

"What is that?" Susan asked with a tremor in her voice as she took a couple of steps back into the house.

Quinn snapped her attention to the woman. "You can see that?" she asked sceptically. Susan nodded and looked at the light then back at Quinn for answers. "That's Amy, she's moving on, thanks to you." Just then, the air around them turned white as the light grew and grew. There was a flash, almost like lightning and when Quinn and Susan were able to open their eyes, both of their jaws dropped as they saw Amy standing there.

Amy looked stunned herself and looked at something invisible that seemed to be situated in the trees, though Quinn could see it too. It was a large, faint glow of pulsing light- it was the door to the afterlife.

"I'd like that hug now Quinn," Amy grinned. She flung her arms around Quinn and to the blonde's surprise, she could feel Amy. Unlike Rachel who felt cold, Amy felt…human. "Thank you Quinn, thank you so much. I owe you everything. I hope you have a good life, 'cause god only knows you deserve it!" Quinn couldn't help the tears flowing down her face and as Amy let go, Quinn wiped them out of her eyes.

"Amy? Oh my God, Amy?" Susan kept repeating the same thing over and over as shock and disbelief completely overrode her brain. Amy chuckled and moved towards her mother who stayed rooted to the spot.

"Yeah mom, it's me. I can move on now, I can finally be at peace," she didn't have chance to say anything else before her mother embraced her in a tight hug, crying as she buried her face in Amy's copper coloured hair.

"I love you so much sweetie, please don't leave me again!"

Amy smiled sadly. "I have to mom, I can't stay here anymore. I'll love you always mom, you know that. I wish I could stay but I can't." She gave her mother one last hug and reluctantly shifted out of the embrace and began to walk towards the glow in the trees.

Before she stepped through, she cast one more reassuring look over her shoulder at the two women. She grinned, baring white teeth as she turned around and walked through the light, disappearing from Susan's sight and Quinn's. They were alone together.

Quinn's face was covered in salty tears and nearly yelped with shock as the other woman clasped her hand. "Thank you," the woman said to Quinn as their eyes met, sharing the same emotion. Quinn nodded, unable to summon words and the other woman let go, retreating to her house.

The blonde sniffed and wiped her tears on her sleeve, looking once more at the place where Amy had ascended and whispered, "Goodbye." She felt an overwhelming sense of achievement and pride at the fact that she'd just helped her first ghost cross over. The only thing Quinn didn't anticipate was how attached she'd gotten to Amy. She'd come to think of her as a friend, however short-lived it was.

* * *

The last week before Christmas break soon passed and as Quinn walked home through the chilly air, she realised that she hadn't been to the abandoned house in a week, meaning she also hadn't seen Rachel in a week. She kept putting off going. She had no idea what she was going to say to Rachel or how she was going to explain these new found feelings for her, but she knew that she'd have to try. It wasn't fair on either girl.

Quinn looked up at the sky and chewed her lip as she wondered if she'd have enough time before dark to get there and say what she wanted. Desire to establish clarity with Rachel won out and Quinn promised herself that she'd be out before dark so she started running at top speed towards the house, not caring that the frosty air was burning her lungs.

She ran up to the front door and gave the icy handle a twist, stepping through when the door opened. "Rachel?" She shouted as loud as she dared. "It's Quinn! I'm sorry I haven't been around in a while but I need to tell you something." She waited for a reply of any kind but everything in the house remained still except Quinn who was breathing heavily from the run. "Please Rach, please talk to me," she begged as she began to run upstairs. She stood outside Rachel's door and began hammering on it with the palm of her hands. "Rachel! Open up, I know you're in there, come on! I'm sorry for running, please just come out so we can talk about this!" Suddenly, the door opened but Quinn's face dropped when she saw the room was empty. She looked out of the window in the room, anxiously noting that the sun had begun to set. "Rachel?"

Quinn stopped dead and stilled her breathing as she heard a faint whisper in her ear. It sounded like Rachel but somehow it wasn't right. The voice sounded faded and fizzled out, like something was blocking it but she heard one thing clearly. "Get out now!" Quinn's eyes grew wide as she turned and sprinted for the stairs. She had nearly made it to the door when she felt something collide with the back of her head.

The hit made her collapse to her knees as her vision began to cloud over with moving, black splodges. She tried to stand up, but a second blow knocked her to the ground and her vision totally fizzled to black, the last thing she saw was the door shutting on its own, casting out the fading light from outside. But the last thing she heard was a girl's voice- Rachel's voice- shouting her name over and over.

* * *

**A/N: **_I know... I'm cruel to leave it on a cliff hanger ;D_


	9. Chapter 9

Quinn's vision was blurred as she tried to open her heavy eyes which seemed to sting in protest. The first thing she noticed was that now, it was completely dark. Fear whelped in her stomach and an overwhelming need to escape pressured her to try and stand up. She tried to shift her limbs but hot, searing pain exploded in every nerve ending and her head pounded so furiously that she thought she was going to pass out again. She lifted a hand to the back of her head, feeling a swollen lump and matted blood entangled in her short locks. After a few dizzy attempts, she managed to clamber to her feet, swaying unsteadily as she hoped she wouldn't fall back down. What had happened to her? What had hit her on the head? Surely it wouldn't have been Rachel but that left a terrifying conclusion: it had been the other spirit captivated within the house. She cursed herself for being so arrogant in thinking she'd be okay because it wasn't _that_ dark when she first entered.

A loud clang sounded to the left of her, dragging her from her thoughts. Quinn's heart drummed against her rib cage as adrenaline began to surge through her blood and her breathing quickened as it echoed around the still of the house. Quinn quickly covered her mouth with a shaky hand as she nervously tried to see anything within the dark abyss around her.

"Quinn?" a voice called from somewhere in the dark. Instantly, she recognised the voice to be Rachel's and opened her mouth to speak, ignoring the metallic taste of blood and the fiery ache that throbbed in the back of her throat.

"R-Rachel?" She managed to choke out.

"Quinn…can't…properly," Rachel's message came out broken and Quinn suddenly remembered the difficulty she had trying to talk to the ghost earlier. "Medication," Rachel said next and a light bulb flashed in Quinn's disorientated mind, clearing it if only a little. Could it be that the new medication she had been taking for the past week was somehow blocking Rachel from communicating properly? Despite her fear, she silently rolled her eyes at just another reason to dislike Dr Shepard.

Quinn nearly screamed as she felt a cold hand ensnare her own but a soft reassuring squeeze confirmed that it was Rachel. She could now hear her better but still couldn't see the ghost and she wondered if the meds were starting to wear off. The last time she had swallowed one of the little pills had been this morning and it was now dark.

Quinn stumbled as she felt Rachel drag her down the stairs and towards the door which was wide open, revealing a starlit sky; she was metres away from safety. In addition to Rachel's hand, the blonde felt another pair aggressively push her, causing her to tear free of Rachel's grip and tumble down the marble stairs, landing at the bottom with a thud- igniting her pain all over again. She heard a scream and wasn't quite sure if it had come from Rachel or her own mouth.

Drearily, she tried to focus her gaze on the open door, summoning whatever energy she still held within her beaten body so that she could crawl to the door. She knew if she didn't get out now, she was done for.

"Quinn! Get up! Get out now!" She heard Rachel's distraught voice clearly this time and the message wasn't broken meaning that the medication must be wearing off faster than she had anticipated. She felt small urgent hands try to help her to her feet. Rachel didn't need to tell her twice. The blonde was on her hands and knees, fighting the persistent pain in her body and willing herself to stand up as she slowly and desperately made her way towards the only possible escape route. Rachel managed to tug the taller girl to her feet and Quinn felt her arm being slung around Rachel's invisible shoulders as the brunette tried to sustain her and help her to the door.

"Rachel," Quinn whispered with a raspy breath. "I'm sorry for running, I-" she was cut short by Rachel shushing her.

"Not now Quinn, all I care about now is getting you out of here!" Rachel hissed and Quinn could hear the unmistakable panic quiver in the brunette's voice. Quinn painfully nodded, not sure if Rachel could see her but she remained quiet.

Just as they neared the door, it shut on its own with a hefty slam- causing Quinn to bite back a squeal. Her heart was beating faster than ever and she couldn't hear what Rachel was trying to say as blood ferociously pounded in her ears. She felt faint all over again and began to fall but Rachel hauled her back up and began to pull her towards the stairs as fast as she could. Quinn knew that Rachel was trying to get them to the safe room and Quinn also knew that the spirit was toying with them.

Just then, Quinn felt Rachel's presence disappear and the blonde was shoved to the floor. She cried out in anguish as she felt something sharp dig deep into her forearm. With her free hand she fingered the piercing object and to her horror, realised that she had a piece of jagged glass buried halfway into her arm. She stopped struggling when she heard it. A menacing, cruel laugh seemed to reverberate around the entire house, bouncing off of the walls and invaded her ears, causing them to hurt from the amplified sound.

Quinn felt hot tears roll down her cheek and the fear subsided long enough to let her be angry at herself for acting so weak in a time like this. She needed to be strong- she needed to live. "Rachel?" Quinn called out as loud as she dared and her call was immediately answered by a cold breath that snaked across her ear. "Rachel what-"

"She's left you little girl. You're all alone and now you're mine," a deep, sinister voice whispered into her ear, causing the hairs to rise on the back of Quinn's neck whilst icy shivers ran the length of her spine. Quinn's eyes were wide, her mouth had turned dry and she felt paralysed to the spot with unbearable fear. Quinn screamed as she felt her arm being pushed further into the glass and heard that dark cackle surround her once more. It was a sadistic laugh that derived from causing pain and torture, as though that was the only reason this entity existed.

She didn't know what had happened to Rachel and she found herself terrified for the ghost. What had the spirit done to her? She felt a knot in her throat. She couldn't lose Rachel, she just couldn't. Suddenly, a surge of inspiration hit her and using her free hand, she brushed her fingers along the bulge of her jean's pocket. Hope flared within her as she tugged her phone free and quickly hit 'dial' over Santana's contact.

The phone rang loudly and the blonde cursed, knowing that if the spirit knew what she was up to then he'd probably kill her without dragging it out. The phone clicked as someone answered on the other end and relief overwhelmed Quinn.

"Bitch, it's one in the morning. You better be dying or I swear to god I'll-"

"Santana! I need your help! I'm trapped in the house! He's going to kill me!" Quinn blurted out, hoping that the Latina would be able to distinguish the message in her jumble of words.

"Holy shit you really are dying! Okay, give me ten minutes- no five minutes and I'll be there! Just hang on Quinn; it's going to be O-"

The phone was torn from her grasp and Quinn heard a roar of anger as it was thrown across the room- shattering off as it hit the wall. She then felt herself being pried from the floor, her arm slowly sliding off of the glass and she bit down on her bottom lip hard to stop herself screaming again. With tremendous force, she was thrown in the same direction as her phone and couldn't help but release an agonising scream as she hit the rugged brick wall and crumpled to the floor in a broken heap.

She heard heavy footsteps trudge their way towards her and she knew she was about to die. A terrifying thought rang through her mind and she wished more than anything that she hadn't called Santana because she knew she would meet the same fate that Quinn was about to endure.

The footsteps stopped directly in front of her and a heavy air filled with malice shrouded the space around her. There was nothing left to do. She couldn't even stand up and she had no way of fighting back. Hands gripped her arms and she thought for sure that was it.

"Get up Blondie!" a familiar voice commanded. "Get the hell up and let's go!" Santana's voice urgently boomed.

"I-I can't," Quinn spluttered, causing Santana to haul her up and wrap Quinn's arms around her neck as she shifted the blonde's legs around her back, picking them up under her arms. Quinn was surprised at how strong the girl was, considering she was shorter than Quinn was.

"Hold on," she instructed as she began to make haste towards the door. "Shit!" she cursed when it slammed shut yet again. Santana screamed and began to yell in Spanish when she felt someone push her towards the stairs. "Get the hell off of me before I exorcise your ass!" Santana threatened but the tremor in her words betrayed her bravado.

"Quinn it's me!" Rachel's voice said irately in front of the girls. "Tell her it's me! You both need to get to my room now! I've distracted him but not for long so tell Santana to hurry!"

Quinn relayed the message, causing Santana to give up thrashing and swearing and move as fast as she could with the blonde teenager on her back as she ran up the stairs. As they neared the room, the girls heard a loud thunderous roar filled with anger as the spirit realised what had happened. Rachel shoved them both in, causing Santana to trip and let go of Quinn who toppled to the floor and yelped.

The door shut behind them and all three girls stayed silent and waited tentatively in the blackness of the room as they heard the angry howls of the spirit as he furiously began to tear up the house. He was enraged that they had escaped and Quinn just knew that he would be more determined than ever to eventually kill her.

"No freaking way! What the hell was that thing?" Santana exclaimed as she caught her breath and blindly helped Quinn sit up against a wall. "Was that the other ghost you warned us about?"

"Yeah," Quinn confirmed.

"Okay, so do you want to tell me why the hell you were here after dark? Damn it woman are you stupid?"

Quinn laughed lightly and she could feel Santana glare at her through the darkness. "I came to talk to Rachel and then I noticed it was going dark. The next thing I knew I was hit with something and then I woke up in the dark. I couldn't get through to Rachel because of the meds and-"

"Meds?" Santana quirked.

Quinn sighed. "My family sent me to see a shrink and they gave me medication for schizophrenia because apparently seeing ghosts and talking to people that aren't there are massive symptoms."

Santana at first began to laugh, causing Quinn to frown but soon she stopped. "Why am I only just hearing about these crazy pills?" Santana asked, her voice slightly tinged with hurt.

"I guess I was embarrassed," Quinn truthfully told her. "I'm not crazy."

Santana scoffed. "So you keep saying but look where we are. Besides," she continued, adopting a more serious tone, "you don't need to feel embarrassed Quinn, I'm your friend and I know you're not in Lala Land. You can tell me anything and you know I won't judge…much. And look, I just saved your sorry ass didn't I?" The Latina joked, causing Quinn to giggle.

"Thank you," Quinn breathed.

"Don't think I'm not gonna call this one in. You owe me big. Someone's gotta' tell Brittany that the Toothfairy isn't real and after the Easter-bunny ordeal, it isn't going to be me," Santana sternly told Quinn who began to laugh again.

"Deal," the blonde smiled into the darkness as she nursed her injured arm. Warm blood covered her skin and she felt nauseous.

"So what do we do now?" Questioned Santana, "Wait for Casper the unfriendly ghost to bust in and stuff our bodies under the floorboards?"

"No, Rachel said that this is the one room that he has no control over, he can't get in here," Quinn clarified as she heard an exhale of relief from the cheerleader.

Quinn's thoughts suddenly redirected to Rachel as she remembered about the ghost. "Rach?"

"Yeah?" a quiet voice popped up next to her, causing Quinn to flinch with surprise.

"Thank you too," Quinn said blushing and her words were returned with cold lips being pressed to her cheek, causing her face to redden even more.

"You're welcome," Rachel giggled, obviously noticing Quinn's flushed complexion.

"What's going on over there?" Santana asked sceptically as she saw the outline of Quinn squirming in the dark.

"Nothing!" Quinn squeaked, causing Rachel to giggle again.

"My ass," retorted Santana. "I don't know about you but seeing as though we're stuck here until the sun comes up I'm going to try and get some sleep. At least if we're brutally murdered, I can die happily in my sleep," Santana grunted as she rolled over and wrapped her jacket tight around her body- resting her head on her arms.

"Is she always so cheerful?" Rachel asked as she gently leant her head against Quinn's shoulder. Quinn snickered and the room fell into silence.

After what had seemed like an hour passed and Quinn could hear the faint snoring coming from Santana she whispered, "Rachel?" Quinn glanced in Santana's direction, squinting in the dark room as she tried to make sure the sleeping cheerleader was still undisturbed.

"Hmm?"

"About yesterday," Quinn started.

"I know, it was stupid and thoughtless. I guess I just got caught up in the moment. I promise it won't happen again Quinn. I'm sorry," Rachel said sadly.

"No! I uh," she paused and looked at the still sleeping Santana. "It was nice," she finally said as quietly as possible, feeling her blush return. Quinn felt the brunette shift against her and the blonde's eyes grew wide when she realised she could see Rachel again, despite the lack of light in the room.

"Then why did you run?" The ghost asked, looking slightly hurt.

Quinn felt a pang of guilt as she looked into Rachel's velvety eyes for the first time in a week. The ghost was patiently waiting for an answer but Quinn didn't really know what to say. "I don't know, I guess I was the stupid one." She was still looking at Rachel and Quinn's face grew serious. "I like you Rachel, I really do. But that's what frightens me. You're a ghost, it'd be pointless," Quinn said downheartedly, breaking her stare and shifting her eyes towards the ground.

The blonde felt a cold hand press against her cheek, turning her head back up and towards Rachel and before she could say anything, Rachel's lips once more pressed against Quinn's, only this time, Quinn didn't run or break the kiss. The kiss was soft and gentle and Quinn let herself melt into it as she pushed the nagging worries about Rachel being a ghost to one side, realising that she couldn't ignore the feelings she harboured for the ghost. Their lips moved perfectly together, creating a delicious passion between the two girls as Rachel redirected her hands to Quinn's hair, bunching up in the short tangles and effectively pulling her closer and Quinn swore in that moment, she forgot everything else in the world but this one girl that had her at hello.

Rachel was the one who broke the kiss and rested her forehead against Quinn's whilst looking into her lustful, hazel eyes. "Was that pointless?" Rachel asked softly as she tentatively removed her fisted hands from Quinn's hair.

Quinn's mouth hung open as she stared at the incredibly talented lips that had just been attached to her own. She suddenly registered the question and closed her mouth, shaking her head as she was unable to form coherent words. Rachel smirked and patted the blonde's cheek. "Don't leave me again like that. I was worried you weren't going to come back," Rachel said gently with slight authority to her tone. "And for Christ's sake, will you listen to me when I tell you to keep well away from this place after dark?"

"I wanted to talk to you," Quinn explained, feeling a blush haze her cheeks.

"You could have done that during the day," Rachel scolded and Quinn looked away, knowing Rachel was right. It was stupid and reckless to have gone to the house at the time she had, but she just wanted to see Rachel, to explain to her why she ran away- just so the ghost didn't think that she hated her- after all she hadn't visited the house for a week.

"I'm sorry," Quinn finally offered then looked at Rachel once more. "So where does this leave us?" She asked hesitantly.

Rachel smiled warmly but something brief flickered in her eyes that Quinn couldn't quite place. Doubt? Uncertainty? The flicker vanished before Quinn had time to figure it out and Rachel took hold of her hand. "Wherever we want it to, now please Quinn get some rest. We can talk about this tomorrow," the brunette said as she allowed the blonde to rest against her shoulder. Quinn's eyes flashed towards the door and Rachel noticed the slight panic within them. "Don't worry, you'll be safe. I'm here, I'll protect you," the ghost said reassuringly as she kissed Quinn's forehead and pulled her further into her. Quinn felt relief bud within her and she allowed her eyes to start drifting, the last thing she saw was Rachel looking adorningly at her, making it easier than ever to fall asleep with a smile on her face.

* * *

When Quinn's eyes fluttered open, she realised that she was no longer leaning on Rachel's shoulder; rather her head was in Rachel's lap. Quinn quickly scuffled upright, feeling her face heat up. She heard Rachel chuckle. "Good morning Quinn," Rachel said with glittering eyes as she leaned across and landed a kiss on Quinn's cheek. "You're adorable when you're flustered," Rachel said, grinning childishly. Quinn glared at her unconvincingly as the smile twitching on her lips refused to fade.

"Oh great, you're awake," Santana's voice sounded out from across the room, startling Quinn. "And would you look at this, we're not dead!" She enthused sarcastically. "Though a certain ghost was throwing bits of wood at me the entire night," she scowled at the space next to Quinn and Rachel smirked with amusement. "It's okay though, I'll just bring holy water with me next time."

Quinn looked to Rachel. "Does that actually work?" Rachel rolled her eyes and shook her head, proceeding to throw another small piece of debris at the Latina- causing her to yell angrily at the air as Quinn and Rachel both laughed. Santana crossed her arms and grumbled to herself and Quinn hoisted herself up, ignoring the now dull aches and pains.

"Shit Quinn!" Santana hissed alarmingly and Quinn followed the Latina's gaze to her arm. The blonde inhaled sharply at the gory sight. There was a deep, angry red gash covering nearly the length of her forearm- which was covered in dried blood. The wound itself was inflamed and still moist with fresh blood from her recent movement. It hurt like hell when she moved her arm and her fingers felt numb, refusing to respond accordingly. The rest of her clothes were covered with the crimson blood and she was sure she looked like a victim from a slasher movie. "You need to get that looked at! It's probably infected," Santana urged as genuine concern darted across her face.

Rachel lightly touched the injury, causing Quinn to flinch. She looked at Quinn apologetically. "Santana's right, it's bad Quinn," Rachel added. "You'll probably need stiches." Panic erupted in Quinn's head. How on earth was she going to explain that to her parents? What was she even going to tell them when they asked why she'd stayed out all night without a phone call or even a text to tell them that she was okay or where she was?

Santana noticed Quinn's pained expression, realising what was racing through her mind. "My dad's a doctor, if you come back to my place, I can ask him to take a look at it?" She offered and Quinn nodded a thank you, not sure if she could speak without vomiting.

"My poor Quinn," Rachel whispered, causing the blonde to smile at Rachel's possessiveness.

Santana regarded the way that Quinn was staring at the space next to her which she presumed was Rachel and realised that the blonde may appreciate being left alone with the brunette for a while. "I'm going to go outside and get some air," she looked at Quinn, "I'll be out there when you're ready," she said simply before getting up towards the door. She stopped in front of the door, hesitating as she reached for the dusty handle. "I'm not going to die if I step out of this door am I?" She asked nervously without turning around.

"No. He's not strong enough to do anything during daylight hours," Quinn reassured and Santana nodded before leaving the room. A smile ghosted Quinn's lips as she heard something in the house clang, causing a freaked out Santana to swear and sprint down the stairs and out of the door into the safety of the overgrown garden.

She turned her attention to Rachel and noticed that the ghost was staring at her angrily. Quinn looked away guiltily. "You have no idea how scared I was Quinn," Rachel seethed as she ran a hand through her wavy brown locks. "I thought he was going to kill you and trap you here just like me. I couldn't think of a worse fate for anyone and the thought of it happening to you was enough to kill me all over again."

Quinn glanced at Rachel and noted that her anger had turned to sadness as sparkly tears pricked in the corner of the shorter girl's eyes. Quinn couldn't help herself as she slowly lifted her good arm up to Rachel's face, wiping away icy tears with her thumb. Without warning, Rachel gently put her arms around Quinn's neck and breathed in deep. "You smell like blood," Rachel informed her casually as though it was a normal occurrence but she didn't pull away. Quinn grimaced at the thought and leant into the girl's embrace.

Quinn let out a hefty sigh into the girl's hair. "I want to stay here with you Rachel. I don't think I've ever felt the way I feel about you with anyone else. I can't even begin to explain it. When you first kissed me, it was like I realised everything at once. You made me accept the feelings for you that I'd been oblivious to from the first time we met. You were the first person that I felt genuinely cared about me and it's crazy because I've known you the whole of a month but I just know that leaving you would be torture. I'm so scared because I know that the only time we can be together is in this damned house." Quinn fell silent, realising she'd probably said too much but Rachel pulled away and stared gravely at her as she intently listened to everything Quinn was saying. Now Rachel was the one brushing tears away that Quinn didn't even realise were streaming down her face.

"From the first time I met you, I knew you were going to be special. I knew I'd end up falling for the mysterious girl that could see ghosts and as much as it hurt me to realise, I knew it'd be the hardest, most painful thing I could possibly endure," she looked at Quinn seriously. "For your sake Quinn, we can't be together. You have a life to live and you have so much ahead of you. You're going to get out of this town and make something big of yourself and to do it, you're going to have to leave me behind and forget about me," Rachel said shakily, trying to hold back strangled whimpers as tears dotted the corners of her glistening brown eyes.

"No!" Quinn cried, startled at the ghost's words. "I can't! I won't I-"

"I should have never revealed myself to you. It's not fair to anyone and as much as I wish I could change the fact that I'm dead, I can't. You can't spend your life alone, waiting for someone who can never give you what you want," Rachel said, shaking her head as salty tears dripped to the floor.

"You have though Rachel; you gave me everything I could want. You gave me a friend, someone who for the first time in my life, cared about me. It's not that easy to let someone like that go when all you've known for eighteen years is loneliness and endless, emotional torture," Quinn sobbed as she pulled away from Rachel.

"You'll find someone else, someone better who can give you all that and more! A family, a _warm _embrace when things get tough and a beating heart that'll care for you as much as I do."

"I don't want anyone else!" Quinn snapped, startling Rachel. "I want you," she pleaded whilst looking into Rachel's eyes intensely. Rachel sighed and shook her head, mulling over a thousand thoughts that circled her brain. Her eyes darted to the cross necklace hanging from Quinn's neck and she reached out, gently fingering the metal symbol.

"Do you believe in God?"

"I used to but now I'm not so sure," Quinn said bitterly.

"Why?"

"Because I find it hard to believe that he'd let someone like you receive this fate," Quinn said through tears as she looked at Rachel determinedly.

"You're going to have to let me go someday Quinn," Rachel said sadly as she let the cross drop back against Quinn's rising chest. Quinn sighed as she knew Rachel was right.

"I know, but it won't be like that. I'm not going to just leave you here. I'm going to free you from this damned place and you're going to finally be able to get your overdue afterlife if it's the last thing you do."

Rachel smiled sweetly at the blonde and searched her face. "That's impossible Quinn."

"Yeah? Well I once thought that talking to ghosts was impossible but here we are," she said stubbornly. "I'm not giving up on you Rach. I'm going to find a way. You deserve to be happy."

"Without you, now that _will_ be impossible," the ghost mused solemnly.

"So wait for me," Quinn blurted out before she had time to process what she was actually saying. Rachel didn't reply, only regarded the blonde with a calm look before nodding.

"I honestly don't know how else I'd spend my afterlife," she finally answered, causing Quinn to gush and break out into fresh tears as she felt Rachel's cold hand lightly caress her cheek. "You should go Quinn. I bet Santana's freaking out," she said with a half-smile. She helped Quinn to her feet, careful to avoid her injuries.

Quinn stepped closer to her until they were just a few inches away from each other. She took hold of Rachel's hands and looked at her with piercing gold flecked eyes. "I'll be back tomorrow. I promise, and we're going to work out how to get you out of here," she told the brunette before leaning in and brushing her lips against Rachel's. Rachel deepened the kiss, tasting Quinn's salty tears mixed in with the faint taste of cherry lip balm. She breathed into the kiss along with Quinn's sweet perfume which sent waves of nostalgia rolling over her as she desperately missed the little things in a human life. Feeling her chest heave with sadness- she pulled away, knowing that she probably shouldn't be encouraging their feelings for each other.

"I'll see you tomorrow Quinn," she nodded sadly. Quinn kissed her briefly once more before letting go of Rachel's shaking hands and left the musky room, closing the door softly behind her.

Rachel crumpled to the floor and buried her face in her hands as she cried. She hated herself for dragging Quinn into this. If she had just never let Quinn see her in the first place, they wouldn't be in this situation. Quinn could have come and gone, not knowing about Rachel and she could have moved on with her life instead of dwelling on a house filled with torturous regret and a ghost that could never be hers for as long as she lived.

As Quinn walked into the front garden, she brushed away the last of her tears and noticed Santana leaning against a tall tree as she smiled warmly at her. "You okay Q?"

"Yeah, I will be," Quinn breathed. Santana didn't question her any further, knowing that Quinn would open up in her own time.

"I guess we should get that looked at then," the Latina gestured at Quinn's mangled arm and Quinn nodded.

As they left the house Quinn glanced back up at the window that belonged to Rachel's room and her breath caught in the back of her throat when she saw the ghost staring at her from behind the glass with a face full of remorse. Santana followed her gaze but obviously couldn't see what Quinn saw but she had a pretty good idea what had happened between the two.

* * *

"Dad?" Santana yelled as she opened the front door to her spacious house. Quinn's eyes darted around the modern furnished home in awe. Rachel had been right. The bad-ass image Santana displayed was most definitely a front as the house before her was anything but on the wrong side of town; it was even in a little gated community that was filled with similarly large houses. Santana's house was huge and it must have taken some time to decorate it as perfectly as it was. As they walked into the living room, Quinn noticed the family pictures that hung from the wall and felt a tinge of jealousy as the faces of a happy, supportive family stared back at her. All of her own family pictures looked false and staged compared to this. The Fabrays were all about appearances, even if it meant sweeping problems like Quinn and her ghosts under the rug, refusing to deal with them rationally at the chance of seeming anything but perfect to the rest of the world.

Quinn's attention snapped to an older man sitting in a chair, reading a newspaper. He had dark hair like his daughter and his features were just as Hispanic. Though his kind eyes were an olive green and Quinn realised that it was a gene that the brown-eyed Santana hadn't received. He ruffled the paper before laying it down on the glass coffee table in front of him. "Santana, where have you been?" He asked with more worry in his voice than anger.

Santana shifted uncomfortably, trying to think up a plausible excuse. "I left early this morning," she lied. "I went to the mall with Brittany and then met up with Quinn," she jerked her thumb at the blonde. "I should have left a note but I forgot," Santana said demurely. Her father's face softened.

"Don't let it happen again San, your mother and I were worried you know." Santana nodded and smiled at her father who lovingly returned the expression.

His attention turned to Quinn and his eyes clouded with alarm as he regarded the bloody teenager standing in his living room. "What on earth?" He began but Santana was quick to come up with a lie.

"I went with Quinn so she could take some photos in that abandoned house but she fell and cut her arm on some glass. You think you could take a look at it for her daddy?" Santana asked as sweetly as she could, shocking Quinn as she didn't think the cheerleader was capable of acting so innocent.

Her father rubbed his chin as she strode over to the blonde and began to inspect her arm. "It'll need disinfecting and stitches, it won't take me long but it might hurt. There's also some shards of glass stuck in there so I'm going to have to pull them out which is probably going to hurt the most, but I'll try and be as gentle as possible," he told Quinn who began to envy that Santana had such a caring father. Her own was always distant and cold and she could never talk to him the way she could tell Santana talked to hers.

"Thank you Mr Lopez," Quinn said, feeling slightly woozy at the thought of all the pain she was about to endure.

"Please, call me Diego. Mr Lopez makes me feel like an old man," he told Quinn light heartedly whilst chuckling to himself, causing Quinn to grin and nod in agreement.

"You are old dad," Santana quipped before disappearing into the kitchen, though she soon came back with a bottle of water for Quinn and some alcohol- which Quinn presumed was to disinfect her injury and not for the underaged girl to down as a result of the previous night. Diego rolled his eyes but smiled at his daughter as she handed him the bottle of vodka.

"I don't have anything other than this," he waved the vodka around before placing it down. "But it'll do the trick, luckily I do have some needles and surgical string lying around though," he laughed. "So it doesn't look like we'll be breaking into Maribel's sowing kit any time soon!"

The next half an hour was filled with even more excruciating pain for Quinn as the remainder of the glass was dug out of her arm with long, metal tweezers and was then doused in alcohol which seemed to set Quinn's arm on fire. She squirmed and yelped uncomfortably but Santana rubbed her shoulder reassuringly as her father made neat work of the angry gash on her arm. Eventually he had cleaned and stitched up the cut, wrapping a white bandage around it. Quinn breathed a sigh of relief that she had seemed to be holding forever as she looked down at her fixed arm. Feeling was already coming back into her hand but she suspected that it would take a couple of days to return to normal.

"There, good as new!" Diego said, admiring his handiwork. He handed Quinn a roll of fresh bandage and surgical tape. "Make sure to let the wound air; change the dressing frequently and keep it clean," he told the blonde who nodded attentively.

"Thank you so much Mr Lo- Diego," Quinn said shyly. Diego waved her off and told her not to worry about it, she was a friend of Santana's and that was good enough for him. "I really should get going though, I bet my parents are totally stressing about where I've been," she said.

"I'll walk you back," Santana offered and Quinn nodded.

"Goodbye Diego," Quinn smiled, giving the older man a wave.

"Nice meeting you Quinn, I hope to see you again just not when you're bleeding in my living room," he joked and both Quinn and Santana laughed.

Half way along their walk, Santana spoke up, dragging Quinn from her daydream about Rachel and how sad she looked through the window- trapped as Quinn was able to leave without her. "So how're we going to beat that thing and free your ghost?" Santana addressed, turning her gaze towards Quinn.

"That's exactly what I want to know," Quinn mumbled as she stared at her moving feet with glazed eyes.

Santana squeezed Quinn's hand sympathetically. "Don't worry, we'll find a way. There _has _to be something we could do. I'll be damned if that punk-ass ghost thinks he can get away with scaring the shit out of the Queen of Lima Heights," Santana grumbled flippantly. It caused Quinn to laugh, brightening her mood if only a little and she found herself more grateful than ever at what this town had finally given her that everywhere else had failed to do so- friends that genuinely loved and cared for her. Quinn knew this was the first place she could comfortably call home and she knew it was a place that had just changed her life forever- for better or for worse.

* * *

**A/N: **Hopefully you found this a better ending than the one last time ;D Thank you for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

As Quinn approached her front door she felt uneasy. What where her parents going to say? Surely they must have noticed her absence and she had no idea what she was going to tell them. She tentatively tried the door handle and a small bud of relief flushed through her as she discovered it was locked. She silently thanked every God she could name as she dug her keys out of her pocket, twisting them in the lock. Quinn smiled to herself as the front door eased open with a little push, and the familiar smell of home hit her square on in the face.

The blonde stepped through and shut the door behind her. "Mom, Dad?" Quinn called out. She didn't expect a reply, she was simply clarifying that she was alone. She grinned as she realised she was.

She trudged to the kitchen, desperately thirsty. She poured herself some water and then leant against the island, not realising how dehydrated she was until could liquid pass her lips. Quinn stopped mid-gulp when she spotted a folded note on the granite worktop of the island. It was titled: 'Quinn'. She cocked an eyebrow curiously as she recognised the writing to be her mothers. She unfolded the note and began to read.

_Quinnie, we had to go to your Aunt Kat's on short notice, there's been an accident but everything's going to be okay, don't worry. We would have asked you to come but you're currently out and we can't wait. I've left some money for the weekend, I'll ring you tonight. Remember to take your medication and you have an appointment with Dr Shepard on Tuesday, please show up this time! See you Monday. Love Mom and Dad xxx _

Quinn sighed and rolled her eyes at the note. She certainly wouldn't be taking that medication any longer; it wasn't like she needed to anyway. All it did was stop her from seeing ghosts. Any other time she'd gulp a thousand down if it meant she could actually go somewhere without worrying who's dead and who's alive, but seeing as though Rachel was a ghost, she felt no desire to do so. As for her appointment, she knew she'd have to go to this one or her dad would probably pop a blood vessel with anger. She had skipped her second appointment on Thursday which had resulted in a two hour argument with her father about the value of time and money, to which Quinn had rolled her eyes at and back-chatted all the way through. She hated how shallow and materialistic her family could be. The Fabrays were all about appearances. As long as the rest of the world regarded them highly, they could afford to sweep things under the rug or throw money at problems until they seemingly disappeared.

An alarm bell suddenly sounded in Quinn's head as she realised that the note must have been written yesterday. There's no way that they would have gone today if she didn't come home last night. Her parents were selfish and painfully ignorant towards their daughter but they'd at least notice if she didn't return home. She swallowed thickly. Her mom had probably tried ringing her broken cell phone a dozen times and was more than likely out of her mind with worry or worse yet- on her way back.

Just as the thought had crossed her mind, the house phone's generic ring jolted her back to reality. She ran into the living room and scooped the phone off of its charger, hurryingly pressing the green button to answer.

"Hello?" She asked into the plastic object.

"Quinn? Quinn is that you?" Her mother's worried voice sounded. Quinn shuddered at the eerie coincidence.

"Yeah mom, I-"

"Oh thank God! Where have you been? I can't get through on your cell and I've rung the house phone at least fifty times in the past twelve hours!" Judy's worried tone had started to let anger seep through, causing Quinn to think fast on her feet.

"I uh, dropped my cell in some water, so it won't work," the blonde lied. "And I never answer the house phone, it's never for me. Sorry mom, I guess I wasn't thinking, I've been so tired recently. I think it's a side effect of the meds." Quinn nodded to herself at what she thought was a pretty decent lie. Everything she said was plausible and she even threw the bit about her medication in there for good measure, making her mother think that she was still actually taking them.

Judy sighed, obviously frustrated but relieved at the same time. "That was an expensive phone Quinn!" Judy scolded.

"I know, I'm sorry," she mumbled weakly, slightly hurt at how fast the topic of her safety had changed. "I'll buy a cheap replacement today, but just ring the house phone if you need me until then. I promise I'll answer."

Judy seemed satisfied at her daughter's response as she muttered an 'OK'. Quinn asked about her Aunt and found out that she had suffered a minor heart attack but to her relief, learnt that she was recovering fast in the hospital.

"Well, I need to get going. We're at Kat's house with Uncle Geoff at the moment but we're about the leave for the hospital. I'll ring you tonight and in the morning. Remember to take your pills Quinnie! I'll see you Monday okay?"

"Yes mom."

"Love you honey, see you soon."

"Love you t-" the phone cut off before Quinn could finish her sentence and the sound of the dead line mocked her. _Ouch. _No matter how used to her parent's coldness she was by now, it always still stung.

Quinn ran a hand through her matted hair and winced when her fingers became entangled in the golden mess, tugging painfully at her scalp. She decided it'd be a good idea to get cleaned up and throw away her bloody clothes. Her parents would freak out if they found them and she knew she was going to have a hard enough time explaining how her arm came to be stitched up, but that lie could wait until Monday.

Quinn finished tossing her ruined clothes in a black bag, ready for the trash and daintily tested the temperature of the bath water with her toe. She decided a bath would be better than a shower, it'd probably relieve some of the aches in her body that felt as though she'd gone ten rounds in a boxing ring with Tyson.

Nearly an hour later, the water was now only slightly warm and as Quinn regarded her pruned skin she thought it would be a good time to get out, get dressed and go to the mall to buy a new cell phone so her mother would at least have some peace of mind. The pain in her body had been elevated slightly and she felt better after washing the blood, dirt and grime out of her hair and off of her skin. The only visual reminder of last night was the angry-red stitched wound on her forearm. Carefully, she bandaged it back up from the fresh roll of dressing that Diego had given her. She'd have to get that man a thank you gift at the very least. He fixed her up for free and didn't even probe too much into what had happened. She liked that he obviously valued privacy.

The blonde tugged on a warm, navy coat before grabbing her keys and leaving the house. The air was colder than it was that morning and the frost bit at her lungs, causing her to cough sharply. She thanked the heavens that her car had finally been brought over and thanked the GPS system even more as she had no idea where Lima mall was.

After a few wrong turns and frustrated yelling at the silly woman navigating the GPS, Quinn came to a halt in rectangular marked spot in Lima mall's parking-lot. She unbuckled her seatbelt, made sure she had her keys and her money then jumped out of the little red car. She eyed the building, noting that it was nowhere near as big or as modern as some of the malls that she'd seen in California, but she figured it'd have what she needed.

The inside was filled with busy people who were darting in and out of various stores that were aligned to each side of a vast walking space. She hauled her bag even further up on her shoulder as she set off in search of a phone shop, surveying the name and the insides of every place she passed.

Finally, she found one. She cocked an eyebrow at the name of the small shop. "Puck's Phones". To her, it sounded that a cheesy place that wouldn't hesitate to rip you off in any way possible but she needed a new cell and this had been the only place she'd seen that sold them. She sighed and started towards the open door, desperately trying to maintain a positive attitude towards the place.

Inside, she spotted a middle aged woman with curled dark hair talking to an elderly man who held up a Blackberry. The woman's eyes shot up as Quinn entered and she muttered something to the man before calling, "Noah? Can you please take care of this customer? I'm busy at the moment."

"Yeah, sure," came a gruff answering call of a teenage boy who stepped out from the back.

Quinn eyed the boy curiously. He must have been her age at least, and Quinn guessed he was a sports player from his muscular build, but what really caught her eye was the boy's outrageous Mohawk striding across the top of his head all the way down to the nape of his neck. The boy caught her eye and shot her a cheeky grin as he closed the distance between them.

"Hi," Quinn said simply.

"Hi yourself," the boy replied, looking her up and down. Was he checking her out? "How can I help you today?"

"Um, I just wanted a cheap phone, y'know something that will make calls and send texts?"

Noah scratched his head in thought then scuffled to one of the display shelves and pointed at a simple, small Nokia phone. "How about this? It's only $20. It's no Iphone but it'll do the basics."

Quinn really wasn't fussed. She hardly ever used a phone unless it to contact family, after all, she'd grown up with no friends to give her their numbers. Even now she only had Santana and Brittany's number saved… well she did until her phone was smashed against a wall by a pissed off spirit.

She smiled at the boy who beamed when she said, "Sounds perfect. I'll take it, thanks."

Behind the counter he took her money and placed a boxed phone in a bag for her. "Thanks," Quinn said as he handed it to her. When he didn't respond, she began to turn.

"I'm Puck, by the way," he said to her back, causing her to face him with a frown.

"Didn't that woman call you Noah?"

"That's my first name, but everyone knows me by Puck. It's short for Puckerman- my last name," the mohawked boy explained as he leant forwards on the counter.

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "Ah," she said and gave a half smile.

"And you are?"

"Quinn," she said, not wanting to really encourage the guy but she didn't want to seem rude either.

"Hold on, I think I know you…"

_Oh God. _

"You go to McKinley High right?" He asked.

Quinn licked her lips nervously and gulped, anticipating what he was about the say. Did everyone in this freaking town know her because of the cafeteria incident? She nodded meekly, failing to meet the boy's eyes out of embarrassment.

"You're the new girl aren't you? The one that-"

"Talked to herself in the cafeteria, yeah," she said bluntly, with a tone tinged with anger as she rolled her eyes.

"I was going to say, the one that transferred last month," he finished, eying the blonde curiously.

"Oh," she muttered, feeling her cheeks heat hotly.

Puck rubbed the side of his face and grinned at the girl. "You don't recognise me do you?"

"Should I?"

"Hell yeah! I'm totally the biggest star on the football team, not to mention the most popular dude in that join… plus I sit behind you in English class," he said, causing Quinn to laugh. His grin grew even broader. "Here," he said as he scribbled something down on a scrap piece of paper and shoved it in Quinn's direction.

She tilted her head, realising that the boy had just given her his number. "Thanks, but if it's a hook-up you're after, I'm not interested," she said flatly.

Puck held his hands up defensively. "Don't get me wrong, you're a total babe and all but I gave it you so we could hang out some time, not to get in your pants Quinn," he laughed. "You seem…different."

"Different?" Quinn questioned with a sharp tone. "Thanks…" she said, feeling a tad hurt.

"Not in a bad way! You seem interesting is all. I think we could be friends," he quickly said with a boyish grin plastered to his face. "If you would give me a chance," Puck added, rubbing the back of his neck. Quinn gave the boy credit for trying- even though he _was_ probably only trying to hook up with her for a dare or a joke so he and his ass-hole friends could laugh about it later. But even as she thought that, she couldn't ignore the nagging thought that he was actually being genuine- but then again, she wasn't used to people wanting to be her friend.

Quinn smirked before turning around to leave, waving a hand over head of her as she did so. "You're still not getting into my pants, _Noah._"

Quinn decided she might as well browse around the other shops, it'd distract from her boredom at least. She stopped dead in her tracks as something caught her eye in the window of a PC store. A light bulb buzzed in her head as she eyed the $15 deal on two long-range Walkie Talkies that were displayed neatly, practically begging her to buy them. They'd be well in range to use from her house and Rachel's. Maybe then the ghost wouldn't feel as lonely. She could talk to Quinn whenever she wanted, even at night without the fear of her human friend being killed.

Quinn grinned stupidly as she exited the shop with a brand new pair of Walkie Talkies. She couldn't wait to see the look on Rachel's face when she gave one to her. She also remembered how happy the ghost was about stealing Santana's magazine (even though the happiness may have come from the fact that the Latina would be pissed when she found out.) so she bought Rachel a few glossy fashion and gossip magazines for good measure.

As she walked towards the exit of the mall, someone roughly barged her shoulder, sending her crashing to the floor and landing on her stitched arm- causing her to let out an anguished cry. Tears sprouted to her eyes from the unbearable pain and she felt something warm spread across her arm. She just prayed that the stiches hadn't opened. She whipped her head up to face her offender and her eyes darkened, bristling with anger and annoyance as she saw Holly and two other girls, looking down at her as they snickered.

"Oops, sorry Quinn. Didn't see you there. Guess I must have thought you were a _ghost,"_ Holly said sarcastically. "What've you bought? Oh don't tell me, night goggles and heat recorders?" She laughed as she eyed the bags that were splayed around the blonde girl.

Quinn's anger peaked as adrenaline gave her the energy to get up and ignore the horrendous pain from her arm. "None of your damned business," she snapped as she tried to shove her way past, but the cheerleaders kept her in place, pushing her back. Quinn locked glares with the head cheerleader and dropped her bags as she grabbed hold of the top of Holly's shirt and pushed her into a wall.

Fear now replaced the mocking look in Holly's eyes and her mouth hung open, banishing the cruel smirk it had harboured only seconds ago. She desperately tried to get free of the raging blonde's grip but Quinn held her firmly in place. The other two cheerleaders did nothing but watch as did people who stopped to see what the commotion was about. Some were even taking pictures, but Quinn had no care in the world other than to see this girl suffer.

Quinn tightened her grip and continued to glare at the girl, and smirked when she realised that heavy tears had started to stream down the cheerleader's face. "G-get off of me you freak!" Holly tried to sound intimidating but Quinn knew it was just a front. She could practically _smell_ Holly's fear.

Just then, Quinn found herself smiling. But it wasn't her usual, friendly or distant smile- this was a smile that she never imagined she'd use. It was sadistic and for a moment, she actually enjoyed watching the terrified girl squirm in her grip. "Leave me alone," Quinn said fiercely, abruptly letting go and returning to her bags in a daze.

What had come over her? Quinn had _never _acted that way towards anyone in her whole life. After all the people that acted like that to her, she made a vow to herself that she'd never be like them; she didn't want people to feel as awful as she did. No matter how much she might dislike someone, she never once thought about acting malicious towards them and worse yet- enjoying it. Now, she'd just broken her promise. She felt like she was going to throw up so without looking at the girls, she turned on her heal and fled without once looking back.

She ran back to her car, scrambling into the driver's seat and barely fastened her seatbelt before tears erupted from her eyes. What was happening to her? In that moment she felt nothing but hatred and utter contempt for Holly and it was as though her body automatically assaulted the girl for her, deriving pleasure from the fact that the girl was seconds away from pissing herself with fear.

Quinn buried her head in her hands. Maybe she was affected still from the previous night's events- or maybe she really was going crazy. She scoffed through her tears. Dr Shepard was going to have a field day when she told him this. Though maybe he'd offer an explanation that didn't make her want to shove his pen down his throat.

Quinn didn't drive home. Instead she drove to the first place she thought of- or more specifically, the first person. Rachel would no doubt ease the situation somehow. Just seeing the ghost smile that 1000-megawatt smile could cheer her up any day.

She jumped out of the car, taking her bags and keys- cutting the engine off but hesitated as she gripped the handle of the front door. It was only afternoon so no doubt she'd be safe, but even still, disturbing images from last night kept popping into her head, causing her to gulp down large amounts of cold December air.

"You can do this Q," she muttered to herself as she wiped dried tears from her skin and pushed the door open.

She stood on the step, peering inside and examined the damage from last night. She was surprised to see that you couldn't really tell there had been an ordeal, other than the remains of dried blood on a sheet of jagged glass. _Her blood. _Quinn gulped nervously before walking inside, cautiously looking around her.

The remnants of her old, broken cell phone caught her eye and she was relieved to find that her sim card was still intact. She pocketed it and turned around, screaming when she saw a petite brunette standing behind her.

"Rachel!" She scolded. "You scared me!"

The brunette chuckled but then to Quinn's surprise, hugged her, careful to avoid her injured arm. "Sorry," she muttered into blonde hair.

When they pulled apart, Quinn could feel a blush haze her cheeks. "Oh here, I got you something," she said as she rummaged through one of the bags for the magazines and effectively hid her blush from Rachel. She pulled them out and Rachel's eyes lit up then focussed on Quinn's with a mixture of excitement and disbelief.

"Quinn! You shouldn't have!"

"Oh okay, I'll take them back then," the blonde teased.

"No way!" The brunette replied and swatted for Quinn, trying to grab the magazines. Quinn laughed and gave in, giving them to Rachel and found comfort in the fact that the ghost was now grinning like a kid who had just got their first pet. "Thank you Quinn, you have no idea how grateful I am for this!"

"Well, you better brace yourself for what else I got you. But don't freak out too much! I got one for me too," Quinn said as she began to pull the Walkie Talkies from her bag.

"Something else? Quinn, no. This is too much I- what are they?"

Quinn laughed softly at Rachel's confusion. "Walkie Talkies Rach."

"As in, the kind where people can talk to each other?"

"Are they any others?"

Before Quinn got her reply, Rachel's arms were flung around her neck and the brunette's lips were firmly pressed against Quinn's. Rachel broke the kiss and stepped back, pressing a palm to her forehead; then squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her temples as she silently yelled at herself.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I shouldn't have done that…"

"Rachel," Quinn started.

"Thank you for the gifts Quinn, they're lovely," Rachel said as she took one of the Walkie Talkies.

"Rachel, you don't have to apologise for kissing me," Quinn muttered.

"I shouldn't be encouraging it, it's not fair it's-"

"Not fair? Rachel! You say you like me, you kiss me and then you try to act as if the feelings you have for me aren't there, telling me to move on. That's not fair Rachel! I don't know where the hell I am with you and to be honest, it's pissing me off, _you're _pissing me off!" Quinn's hands shot to her mouth as soon as the last words had escaped her lips and she stared at a shocked Rachel.

"Quinn, what's going on? Are you okay?" Rachel asked tentatively as though Quinn was due another volatile outburst. She reached out a hand to the blonde but Quinn stepped backwards, keeping her eyes on the ghost.

"I'm so sorry Rachel," she whispered through her hands. "I don't know what's-" the blonde broke off her sentence and shook her head, unable to get the rest of her words out.

"Quinn-"

"I need to go."

"Quinn!"

Rachel's calls were in vain. Quinn was already out of the door and running to her car. She flung her bags on the passenger seat and shoved her keys in the ignition, slamming her foot down on the accelerator.

Why was she acting so differently? Why was she getting so worked up? And why had she just snapped at Rachel like that? As the car slowed to a stop outside of her house, she slumped back in her seat and sighed as she pressed her palms against her eyes, blocking out light completely. Firstly, she needed to get some sleep, she had a killer headache and she knew she was always cranky when she was suffering from a lack of sleep. Second, she needed to calm down and think rationally. She couldn't continue to go around attacking people and yelling at people who cared about her. And third, she needed one long conversation with Rachel, as she had a feeling that the little ghost knew something that she wasn't telling her.


	11. Chapter 11

"You mentioned that you've been having nightmares recently?" Dr Shepard asked Quinn as he held a pen and an A4 notepad eagerly. She looked at him with disdain. It hadn't been her that had told him, she had no intention of doing so but unfortunately she made the mistake of confiding in her mother who thought it a good idea to share with her shrink.

Quinn cast her gaze downwards and shifted uncomfortably in the stiff leather chair. She chewed her bottom lip as she contemplated elaborating on the dreams. Quinn had no idea why she was having these terrifying dreams and she wondered if she surrendered them to him, would he be able to offer insight? After all, didn't psychiatrists study Freud's Dream Analysis?

"I'm in a house," the blonde said in an almost whisper, still unable to meet the psychiatrist's questioning gaze. Dr Shepard's eyes glistened, pleased that the girl was unravelling her thoughts to him at last. He wrote something down then turned his attention back to Quinn, goading her to continue.  
"It's just turning dark out and I'm sitting on a bed. Alone. I think- I think I'm crying for some reason," Quinn screwed her eyes shut, trying to remember what came next but the memory was becoming foggy and muddled. "For some reason, I'm scared out of my mind," She swallowed hard, knotting her eyebrows together as she concentrated. "I'm holding something- a box. It's plain wood, but it's old and dirty. I go to open it and then I hear something. I hear footsteps outside of the door and suddenly I'm stuffing the box into a space behind a loose brick in the wall. Then, the door bursts open but it's dark and all I can see is a figure, a man I think. He starts coming towards me and I scream." Quinn opened her eyes and looked reluctantly at Dr Shepard who was furiously scribbling on the paper. "Then I wake up," she finished and looked away in awkwardness. She shuddered at how uncomfortable it was for this strange man that she didn't even like to know something as personal as a dream. They were supposed to express hidden thoughts and feelings and she definitely didn't like the idea of him knowing those things about her.

After a while Dr Shepard stopped writing and uncrossed his legs, resting his pen and paper on the arm of his chair as he leaned back. "From what it sounds like with the crying and the fear, you're repressing emotions- negative ones at that. The box represents limitations which you are trying to hide from the figure- which could be an aspect of yourself that you aren't comfortable with. Is this suggesting anything to you?" He cocked his head and looked at the teenager for an answer.

Quinn licked her lips, considering what he had said. She repressed a lot of things from a lot of people and it had never bothered her in her sleep before, so why start now? There was something strangely familiar about the dream but she couldn't figure out what. She sighed internally frustrated at all the little jigsaw pieces that refused to fit together and form a clear picture.

"Not that I can think of. Maybe I'm just watching too many horror movies," she replied, running a hand through her short golden locks. She noticed the look of disappointment on Dr Shepard's face as she closed herself off from him again as fast as she had opened.

He rubbed his chin in thought. "Have you been taking your medication correctly?"

_No._ "Yes," she lied.

"Have you been hearing and seeing," he hesitated for just the briefest moment as he considered the word. "- ghosts since?"

_Duh. _"No," she lied again.

"I recommend that you keep a dream journal from now on, and bring it with you to our sessions if these dreams continue. Maybe something can be resolved from them."

Quinn had no intention of doing either. She could remember dreams easily, right down to the last detail and she wasn't about to let this guy analyse them and tell her things that she was sure they didn't mean. She nodded anyway to appease him.

"Well Quinn, our time is up. It was nice of you to show up this time," he said, smiling sarcastically at her as she stood up.

"It was either this or being grounded for a month," she quipped. "Though I considered the latter."

"I'm sure you did," he muttered, fully intent on her hearing it. Quinn scowled. "See you next week Quinn," he shouted after her, head buried in his notes.

Quinn only grunted in reply as she exited the room and headed towards the waiting room. She surveyed the room and frowned when she realised that the only person there was a middle aged woman. Her father wasn't there to pick her up, so she reached into her pocket and pulled out her new cell. She had a text from her dad, and she already knew what it was going to read.

_Working late, walk back, it's not far x_

Quinn huffed. Her parents had returned home yesterday and one of the first things her father had said to her had been to remind her about her appointment with Dr Shepard. They had both argued about going and not going but ultimately Russell got his way which only angered Quinn more. He forced her to come and now he wouldn't even pick her up when it was dark out on the streets. She knew damned well that 'working late' was code for 'banging the secretary'. If it wouldn't tear her family apart she would have confronted him about the unexplained lipstick stains on his collars, the fact he sometimes stunk of perfume that Judy didn't own or the weird phone call's he'd constantly receive from an unknown number. But as it was, Quinn wasn't about to do anything about it, though she had an inkling her mother had figured it out long before her and she also had an inkling that her mother didn't want her family to fall apart either. After all, the Fabrays were all about appearances. Quinn scoffed to herself, banishing her train of thought as she headed towards the door.

She wrapped her thick coat even further around her body as she walked along a deserted sidewalk that led away from the town and back towards her secluded house. The air was frosty and bit at every bit of uncovered skin, causing her to shiver. The cold air caught in the back of her throat, making it hard to breathe and her nose sting.

Suddenly she stopped in her tracks. An overwhelming sense of being watched suffocated her, as though someone had suddenly replaced the air with concrete. Subtly, she glanced around her surroundings. Nothing but trees and a couple of parked cars. She couldn't hear anything at all; the air was as still as it was cold.

Just as she came to the conclusion that she was being paranoid, something thudded behind her and a chilling sensation trickled down her back. She didn't dare turn around; instead she did what Quinn did best. She ran from whatever it was that frightened her. She was about half an hour away from home but she didn't care. She kept on running, feeling the burn in her chest and the ache in her muscles as she pounded along the ground in a state of panic.

She landed to the floor with a heavy thud as she collided with something solid. She winced as she landed on her bandaged arm which felt like someone had just set it on fire. Her eyes flew open to meet the obstacle and to her surprise she saw Noah Puckerman standing there with a curious look on his face that looked suspiciously like an amused grin.

"What the hell?" Quinn shouted. "Why were you following me? I thought- I thought," she bit off the rest of her sentence as she picked herself up of the ground and looked angrily at an increasingly confused Puck.

"Following you? I'm walking to my car Quinn," he said, motioning towards a parked up truck. "I've been cleaning Ms Harrison's pool," Puck explained further.

Quinn scoffed. "I bet you have."

Puck smirked at the fly comment. "Where're you heading Quinn? Why were you so scared?"

"I wasn't scared! I was…running to keep warm," she lied. There was no way she was about to tell him she was freaked out because of a paranoid thought, if he didn't already, he'd have thought she was crazy. "My dad couldn't pick me up from town so I've had to walk," she huffed, shuffling her coat around her for warmth.

"Want a ride?"

"You don't have to."

"Quinn, seriously it's fine. It'll be safer than you walking around on your own in the dark."

"Really?" she raised an eyebrow as she smirked.

"Just get in," he laughed in reply as he jumped in the truck and pushed the passenger door open.

After a few moments of silence, Puck reached over to turn the heater up, noticing that Quinn was still shivering. "So, what were you doing out in town this late at night?" He asked.

"My dad makes me see a psychologist," she told him, half regretting it immediately and half interested in what his response would be.

"Really? Why?" He asked with genuine confusion. "You seem perfectly normal to me," he said cheerfully.

"I see ghosts," she replied without thinking. Okay, so she did regret that.

Puck made a chocking sound and looked at Quinn. "You see ghosts?"

"Yup. I know it sounds crazy but It's not and neither am I, I know what I see and-"

"Whoa, whoa chill," Puck laughed. Quinn dropped back into her seat, not realising how defensive she got. "I believe you."

Quinn's brow shot up in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Yeah." Puck sighed and scratched his head before saying, "When I was a kid, the place where we lived at the time was in the middle of nowhere, and at night, there was no artificial light right? So at night, the windows were totally black so you could see the reflection of the inside of the room perfectly. Well one night, my mom went out and she left me on my own. I got up to go get a drink and when I walked back in, I looked out of the window and in the chair where I'd just got up from was a freakin' grey figure sat there," he said ending with a shudder at the memory.

"Ghost's figures are always distorted in mirrors," Quinn explained. "Did you turn around to look at it?"

"Hell no! I got out of that house faster than a hooker spreads her legs."

"Nice analogy," Quinn muttered sarcastically. She cleared her throat. "So you're not lying? Oh, this one here," she said pointing to a nearing house.

"I don't think I could lie about that if I tried. That thing, whatever it was…" he shook his head, breaking off the rest of his sentence. "Point is, I know you're not crazy," he told her whilst pulling up outside of her house.

"Do you see them anymore?" She probed, slightly excited that there might be someone else like her.

"Never since, but I dunno'. I was pretty doped up on meds at the time; I actually nearly died from pneumonia. My mom just thought I was trying to get out of going to school," he chuckled.

Something peeked Quinn's interest. "How ill were you when you saw it?"

"Well, a couple days later, I got admitted to the ER so pretty ill, why?"

Quinn shrugged. "Just curious."

"Huh. Well, this is you anyway, I'll see you around?"

"Sure," she smiled as she hopped out of the truck. "Thanks by the way."

"Anytime, if ever you need a ride at night, just ask." He shot her a boyish grin and drove off before Quinn could reply, but she didn't bother, she was too busy thinking about what she'd just learnt. Maybe dying people could see ghosts too.

Before she even touched the front door handle, the door flew open and her mother greeted her with crossed arms. "Who was that?" Judy asked

"A friend mom," Quinn murmured, pushing past Judy who followed her into the kitchen.

"You've never mentioned him before."

"You never asked," Quinn replied blankly. "Dad not back yet?" She asked, changing the subject. Judy sighed and picked up a glass of red wine at the table. Quinn shook her head which went unnoticed by her mother.

"No honey, he's still at work," Judy said, betraying no emotion.

"Oh. Well, I'm pretty tired. I'm going to go to my room." She hugged her mother and hurried to her room, letting the door shut softly behind her. She couldn't stand to be around her mother when she cracked open the booze. It was the same old thing every time. Judy would get drunk and sob her heart out to a reluctant Quinn whilst she said things that made Quinn feel incredibly guilty about being her daughter. She knew that their parents had wanted the perfect children. Unfortunately the prefect gene skipped her and blessed her older sister and Quinn knew that whenever her parents wanted to brag about their children, they would always brush over the unconventional daughter. Quinn felt the hurt rise in her chest and she pushed it away with a self-lie. She didn't care.

She flopped onto the bed, letting her head sink into the pillow. She wasn't tired, she was restless. Quinn couldn't stop thinking about her dreams and how she thought that they were somehow connected to the house. She desperately wanted to help Rachel and she had a feeling that something in the dreams could help her do that.

She sat up, suddenly thinking of an idea. She grabbed her phone and texted: **Meet me tomorrow at 2 in the library? I need your help with something. **She sent the text to Puck, Santana and Brittany.

Almost immediately after, her phone screen lit up with a message from Puck, _Quinn? _

_**Yeah, so can I get your help?**_

_Sure, I'll be there a little late. I've got to clean a couple of pools first. What's this about Quinn?_

**I'll fill you in tomorrow, it's a long story.**

_Sure okay, see you tomorrow._

She didn't bother replying because another message popped up from Santana.

_Yeah okay, I know it's some ghost shit so fill me in tomorrow, I'm kinda' busy. Britt says she'll be there. Don't text me again tonight. _

Quinn rolled her eyes at Santana's text but laughed at Santana's bluntness. Tomorrow she was going to do some research and find out as much as she could about the house and how to get rid of that spirit. There must be a way and Quinn was determined to find it. Though she just knew that Santana would have something to say about spending time in a library during Christmas break.

She slouched down on the floor against her bed. Another problem was bothering Quinn and annoyingly enough it was also ghost related. Rachel. She liked her, a lot. Growing up, there weren't many people that Quinn trusted enough to befriend, never mind like but Rachel was different. There was something about her that made Quinn feel almost normal. Quite ironic when she was a ghost. Quinn bit her lip in thought. Was it crazy to feel affection for someone who's dead? She could touch her, talk to her, see her. It all felt normal, as though Rachel was alive. Quinn shook her head and opened a book, intent on being distracted by the play: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

A couple of hours later, Quinn had retired to her bed. Her eyes had gotten to that stage where they stung and she felt drowsy. She wasn't surprised; ever since she'd started having those dreams she'd not gotten much sleep. Now, she left her lamp on as her fear of the dark became ever more prominent.

Just as she settled down, an icy chill made her shiver. Her eyes shot open as alarm bells rang in her head, sounding an obnoxious ringing in her ears as her heart began to race and the panic began to rise again. Almost immediately after, something dark flashed in the corner of her eye. There was a ghost in her room, she knew it for sure.

She dove under the covers and squeezed her eyes shut, feeling very much like how she was as a child. She yelped as she heard the bulb in the lamp explode, plummeting the room into darkness. Quinn felt a tear trickle down the side of her face and she tried to steady her heavy breathing so she could listen and think. She couldn't move, she didn't dare. She was scared and she knew that whatever was in her room lived off of that fact. She knew it was a malevolent spirit; the air had grown thick with negative energy that tingled on her skin. It was times like this when she hated her 'gift' more than anything. If she couldn't see ghosts then she'd be blissfully ignorant to their existence. The only good that came from it was Rachel. Now that was a thought that calmed her if only a little.

It had been almost half an hour when Quinn decided that whatever had been in her room had left. She felt like she could finally breathe again and if she moved nothing was going to attack her. Hesitantly and slowly, she lifted the covers back and looked around the room. It was still and she couldn't sense anything. She closed her eyes again as she crawled out of bed towards the light switch near the door, cursing when she hit her head on one of the beams.

The room erupted with light and Quinn shot back into her bed. She opened her bedside draw and scrabbled for the Walkie-talkie she had purchased on Saturday. "R-Rachel?" she whispered, waiting for a reply. "Rachel, if you can hear me, hold down the red button and reply, please?" She spoke a little louder and waited for a few moments, about to give up when she heard a crackle come from the device.

"Quinn?" the sound of Rachel's voice crackled through the low quality speaker but it settled Quinn's nerves all the same.

"Y-yeah, it's me. Look, I'm sorry about before I just- I'm just stressed with my parents and stuff."

"Don't worry about it," Rachel said with a tinge of hurt in her voice though Quinn didn't notice. "Are you okay? You sound upset," Rachel asked with genuine concern.

"I'm, I just- will you sing for me?"

"What?"

"I had a bad dream and, I usually listen to music to get me to sleep after them but my iPod's dead on battery," Quinn lied. She just wanted to listen to the ghost sing, Quinn had never heard her and after everything Rachel had told her about Glee club she was quite curious.

"Will you tell me what's really going on if I do?"

"Can I tell you tomorrow?"

Rachel huffed stubbornly. "Yes."

"Thanks Rach."

"What do you want me to sing?"

"Anything," Quinn said, feeling a blush haze her formerly pale cheeks.

The blonde girl heard nothing for a few moments and she began to think that Rachel wasn't going to do it.

Then the ghost began to sing and Quinn's eyes shot open as she mouthed a silent 'wow'. Rachel's voice was seriously beautiful. It was sweet and strong holding so much emotion that it gave Quinn goosebumps by just listening. She didn't recognise the song but she loved it anyway. Rachel made it sound so appealing. The blonde let herself relax to the sound of Rachel's voice. She felt her eyes become heavy so she shut them, already feeling the tugging of sleep. She didn't want to sleep yet, she wanted to hear it until the end.

"Rach?" Quinn said once the song ended.

"Yeah?"

"That was seriously amazing, you're amazing."

"Quinn…"

"What? I'm just complementing your voice, it's seriously beautiful," Quinn told her, feeling a slight flip in her stomach. She didn't even realise she was smiling.

"Thank you. I've not sung for anyone in years, I was worried I wouldn't sound good anymore," Rachel laughed.

"Like that would ever happen," Quinn giggled.

A few moments passed and Quinn thought Rachel wasn't going to say anything else. "Quinn?" The blonde beamed a smile at hearing Rachel say her name.

"Uh-huh?"

"Your iPod hasn't run out of charge has it?" Rachel asked sceptically and Quinn almost thought she could make out the amusement in the ghost's voice.

"You got me," Quinn offered lamely, her face heating up even more.

"So why…?"

"Can I… can you just let me explain everything tomorrow? Please?"

"Will you though? I feel like ever since what happened on weekend, something's," Rachel stopped as she considered her next words carefully.

"Everything's what Rachel?" Quinn was becoming frustrated, she hated how Rachel was tip toeing around her. She knew that the ghost knew something, something related to this whole situation but Rachel kept stum which only aggravated her even more. "Rachel," she said firmly.

"That, something about you has changed. When I saw you on Saturday, you seemed different. You shouted and freaked out at me Quinn when usually you're so calm and sweet."

"You think I'm sweet?"

"Quinn!"

"Sorry," Quinn whispered. "And I'm sorry for how I acted, it's just parents and-"

"Stuff. You said," Rachel deadpanned. "I know that's not what's going in so I expect an explanation tomorrow. A real one this time." Quinn could sense the anger in Rachel's voice and sighed.

"Okay. I will, I promise. I really am sorry." When Rachel didn't respond, Quinn dared to ask a question that had been bothering her. "What's going on with us Rachel?"

"Can we talk about it tomorrow?" Quinn narrowed her eyes at Rachel's stubbornness. It seemed that if Quinn wasn't going to talk about things tonight then neither was Rachel.

"I should have seen that coming," Quinn chuckled.

"Goodnight Quinn," Rachel said with a lighter tone.

"Night Rach," Quinn replied, disappointed that the conversation was ending, no matter how awkward it was.

She shuffled back under the covers and made herself comfy. She shut her eyes and just before she dropped off into the land of sleep she heard the familiar crackle from the Walkie-talkie on her bedside table. "Sleep well Quinn." That was the last thing Rachel said but it sent Quinn to sleep with a chipper smile on her face.


	12. Chapter 12

Quinn huffed as she shut another thick book that held absolutely nothing of use to her situation. They were books on Lima's history but surprisingly, nothing about that house was bound in their tattered pages. Quinn was getting increasingly frustrated. Surely something about that house would be in these books. From what she had heard, the murders and suicide had been a huge thing. There should have been newspaper clippings, information, pictures- anything that would shed some light on how to tackle the issue of saving Rachel. But there wasn't.

"No luck?" Brittany chirped, Quinn shook her head and lolled it on her shoulder as she narrowed her eyes at a sleeping Latina. Brittany was leaning against Santana who was face down in a musty book titled, 'Famous Ghosts, Hauntings and Exorcisms'. Obviously there was a reason why the book had gathered a heavy coat of dust. The blonde cheerleader followed Quinn's exasperated gaze and nudged Santana.

"What?" she snapped more in shock than anger as she shot up right, batting pages off that were stuck to her cheek. She yelled not at Brittany but at a leering Quinn.

"You're supposed to be helping me with this!" Quinn hissed.

"I am! I mean, it's just so boring, reading that is. Can't you just watch The Exorcism of Emily Rose and be happy?" Santana's head whipped around as a prompt 'shh' came from the desk of the old librarian. "Oh shove it grandma," she grumbled under her breath, turning back to her friends.

"There's nothing. Nothing about the house, about the murders. There's nothing that will give me any idea how to fix this," Quinn told them as she leaned back in the creaky chair and pressed her palms to her eyes.

"Why do you even want to fix it? It's not your problem, you're not the one stuck in there," Santana said bitterly, obviously growing tired of being dragged into what seemed like a lost cause.

"San," Brittany warned.

"She's my friend Santana," Quinn said firmly, daring Santana to argue.

"Friend, yeah."

Quinn raised a challenging eyebrow. "What's _that _supposed to mean?"

"Nothi-"

"You like Rachel," Brittany deadpanned, getting straight to the point before they both drew this out too long and ended up in a heated argument in a public library. She knew how Santana could get when she was aggravated, and recently she'd noticed how Quinn would freak out and yell about the smallest things. Brittany wondered if it was stress or if it was something else entirely. The cheerleader shivered at the thought but looked back to Quinn's questioning gaze.

Quinn stared back at Brittany and Santana smirked. "What?" Quinn said quietly, as though she hadn't heard her the first time.

"She's right though, isn't she?" Santana stated and Quinn bowed her head in defeat.

"I think it's cute," Brittany said airily, smiling like she was stuck in a captivating daydream.

"Yeah, apart from Rachel being _dead_ and everything," Santana quipped, folding her arms.

Brittany looked as though she was going to tell Santana off but Quinn let out a frustrated sigh and said, "I know. That's the problem. That's the problem to everything. If she wasn't dead she wouldn't be stuck in that house and I wouldn't be sat here on a Wednesday afternoon trying to figure out how to get rid of a pissed off ghost," she added tersely.

"Well, the sooner you get her to the afterlife, the sooner you can stop brooding over her," Santana whispered, rolling her eyes and getting up to put her book back to its shelf before Quinn had a chance to respond.

"Ignore her," Brittany muttered with a light smile. "There's got to be some way we can help Rachel and get you your happy ending." The cheerleader beamed at her. Quinn just loved how this girl tried to draw out optimism from every situation. It gave her hope that maybe, just maybe Brittany was right. But then again, ghosts couldn't come back from the dead and Quinn had no intention of dying anytime soon.

"How's Amy?" The question stunned Quinn into silence. She hadn't told the cheerleaders about her moving on yet. With everything that had gone on since then, it had completely slipped her mind. Quinn chewed her lip and her eyebrows pulled together as she felt a pang well in the pit of her stomach. She missed Amy but the fact that she'd helped the ghost finally be happy after so long gave her an overwhelming sensation of elatedness. She knew that once ghosts 'crossed over' even Quinn could no longer see them. The burden that once kept them anchored, that had made them visible had been lifted and they were free to live their afterlife. So yes, she missed Amy but she didn't regret her actions, and she kept trying to convince herself that providing the same opportunity for Rachel was the right thing to do, no matter how much she didn't want to lose _her _ghost.

"She passed on Britt," Quinn offered in a low whisper. She wondered how the Blonde would react, but as always Brittany was full of optimism.

"Really? That's great! I'm so happy for her. You helped her right?" Quinn nodded. "You're totally awesome Quinn. I bet she's happy now."

"Yeah, she is, she got what she wanted most."

Brittany's smile faltered and her expression became thoughtful. "Do you ever wish you couldn't see ghosts?" the cheerleader asked innocently.

"Sometimes. Up until I met Rachel and Amy, I'd always loathed ghosts. They were what made me feel different from everyone else. They tormented me and scared me to tears and all the while they made me secluded from help and reassurance. No one can see what I see. I had no one who believed me enough or could understand what I felt, what I was going through. They just labelled me as 'crazy' and carried on with their lives, leaving me to deal with everything alone."

Brittany's hand shot across the table to squeeze Quinn's. "We believe you Q. You're not alone now. You have me and San and Rachel," she chirped as brightness flooded back into her face and erupting into an endearing grin.

"I know. Thank you."

"You know nothing, get reading bitch," Santana said solemnly as she dumped a book in front of Quinn, making a loud thud. Santana muttered in Spanish as she heard a second warning come from the front desk. Both Quinn and Brittany snickered, earning a sardonic look from Santana. The girls began combing through more books when a familiar voice sounded from behind Quinn, making her jump with surprise in her seat.

"Hey," Puck waved, brushing a hand over his Mohawk.

"Puckerman? What the hell are you doing here? Do you two know each other?" Santana eyed the pair sceptically.

"Oh, hey Satan," Puck smirked in her direction then enveloped a gleaming Brittany into a bear hug. "Hey Britt." She grinned back at him.

"Well I see you're acquainted with the school slag Quinn," Santana scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Puck eyed her; a slow, mocking grin crept up onto his unshaven face. "So she has." He wiggled his eyebrows tauntingly at Santana.

She scowled and narrowed her piercing eyes as she opened her mouth to launch an array of insults his way but Brittany cut her off with a chaste kiss, causing the Latina to seethe quietly in her seat instead.

He focussed his attention back to Quinn who was desperately trying to conceal laughter over the fact that Brittany had Santana totally whipped. "You said you needed my help Q?"

"Yeah, I guess I should explain what's going on first though huh?"

Puck chuckled, "That'd be a good place to start."

"Well sit your ass down Puckerman, it's a long story," Santana sighed, waving at the empty seat across from her.

Half an hour later, Quinn had filled Puck in oneverything to do with Rachel, the spirit and the house_. _He sat staring at her with his jaw hanging slightly open and Quinn started to regret telling him. What was he thinking? Why wasn't he saying anything? Why-

"So," he began as he scratched his head. "You're saying you met this ghost chick in that abandoned house, but she's trapped there by this homicidal ghost that killed his wife and kids and them himself?" Quinn nodded but Puck continued, "And you want mine- our help," he gestured to the cheerleaders, "to help you kick his ass outta there so you can help this ghost that you've got it bad for?" His eyebrow shot up.

"Uh, yeah. That just about sums everything up," she said quietly, shuffling in her seat under his intense gaze. She thought he was going to just get up and walk out, dragging Santana and Brittany with him, but instead he put his arms behind his head and leaned back on two legs on his chair.

"It's a good thing I like you Fabray," he said finally.

"So you believe me? You're going to help me?"

"Haven't we established that?" he chuckled.

Quinn breathed out the breath she didn't even realise she had been holding. "Thank you," her gaze swivelled over the other girls, "All of you."

"Yeah, yeah, enough with the sentimental crap. We're your friends Quinn," Santana paused and shot a jeering glare at Puck. "Even though sometimes you make bad judgements in that department." Puck opened his mouth to argue but Santana continued, holding a hand up to his face, "So we're going to help you. You're not crazy, I know for a fact that whatever that thing is, it's definitely real," she shuddered. "So let's get on with this." Quinn beamed at her friends, feeling so lucky to have finally found people who weren't going to laugh at her and ignore her. She felt lucky that these people were what she had to call friends. She felt lucky that they weren't letting her face what was probably the weirdest and most horrific experience that they'd ever endure alone. She smiled to herself and buried her head into what seemed like the hundredth book she'd read that afternoon.

An hour later and progress was still near stagnant. They'd found some information on the murder but nothing too in depth. Even the internet hardly revealed anything. Finally Quinn decided to call it a day. "Thanks for helping me today. I know we didn't find much but hey, least we tried."

"What are you doing now?" Puck Questioned.

"I uh, I was going to go to the house, y'know, before it gets dark. I want to speak to Rachel and take a look around the place properly."

"Want some company?" Puck offered.

"Yes," Quinn answered before thinking. Truth was, even though it would still be light, going into the house still scared her. She still paused and listened to every little creak and groan that the house made, she still gulped every time a cold breeze flared past her and she felt her heart momentarily stop when something caught in her peripheral vision.

"Well, as much as we'd like to join you," Santana said, nodding her head towards Brittany, "we've already got plans for tonight. Normally I'd say don't call or text me but since you're going to that place, I'd rather you be a cockblock that dead," she sighed. "So if you _do _need us then just ask. But I swear to God, you better be dying." Quinn guffawed at an almost serious Santana, earning herself a scolding from the Librarian and when the others joined in, they all ended up getting kicked out. Good thing they were done anyway.

Quinn waved to the cheerleaders as they hopped into Santana's car. She turned back to Puck. "Want me to drive?" he asked.

"I walked here, so it'd be faster," she laughed.

"Well, get in then. From what I've heard I don't wanna' be at that place any time near dark!" He shot her a lopsided grin and Quinn nodded, following him to his truck.

Quinn opened the front door to the house and walked in with Puck following shortly behind her, getting his first glimpse into the house. Quinn didn't know what he was expecting when she said, 'haunted, abandoned house' but she was sure he didn't picture it to look like this. He'd probably expect blood splattered on the walls, bones decorating the floor or pictures hung on the walls that moved their eyes as you walked around.

"Quinn?" A stern voice broke her from her musings and her gaze swept along the floor and half way up the marble staircase to where she saw Rachel who was standing there with a hand on her hip and a slight crease formed on her brow.

Quinn looked at the tall boy behind her. He was looking around the house curiously; taking in what Quinn assumed was a disappointing sight for him. He made no sign that he'd heard Rachel. Looks like he really couldn't see ghosts anymore, a prospect that Quinn was interested to try out. She turned her attention back to the descending ghost.

"Yeah?" Quinn replied, causing Puck to shoot her a questioning glance. She ignored him because Rachel came to stand less than three feet in front of her with her arms now crossed and a chagrined expression.

"Who is he?" Rachel pointed to Puck, "And why have you brought him here?" Quinn could tell Rachel wasn't impressed with her for bringing him into the house, in fact, how Rachel was acting reminded Quinn of how she had responded when Quinn had brought Amy into the house. Was Rachel jealous? A grin tugged on the edges of her lips but she licked her lips and smothered it. Rachel would definitely be mad if she thought the blonde was laughing at her. Quinn realised Rachel was still waiting for answers.

"This is Puck," she touched the boy's arm, anticipating Rachel's reaction with childish intent. She'd soon find out if Rachel was jealous or not. "He's a _friend,_" she emphasised the word, causing Rachel's nostrils to flare. "He came with me to keep me company." The ghost's eyes grew wide and her normally plump lips pressed into a thin line. She wanted to see if Rachel was jealous not send her homicide. "I-I mean, after the last few times it's a good idea to have some back up," she stuttered, feeling herself digging a deeper and deeper hole. Something flew past Quinn's head. She yelped and Puck swore, his attentive gaze followed the offending object- Quinn's old, broken cell phone.

Quinn started to panic, eyes darted around the desolate house for any sign of the spirit but then her hazel eyes came to rest on a smirking brunette. "Hey!" Quinn yelled, feeling familiar anger stir in her blood.

"Sorry, reflex," Rachel said casually, as though she hadn't nearly just taken out Quinn with a block of plastic.

"I knew it! You're jealous," Quinn accused, catching Puck's attention. He shuffled around awkwardly not quite sure what was going on but he did know that Quinn's 'ghost chick' was pissed.

Rachel scoffed but made no attempt to deny Quinn's rightful accusation. "I thought we were going to talk Quinn," Rachel said gruffly.

"We are Rach, but I just wanted him here for-"

"Protection, safety, backup. Yeah. Got it," the ghost interrupted curtly.

"What are you getting so upset about Rachel?"

"You have me Quinn; I can help keep you safe. Besides, it's the _day_."

"Yeah but you're dead Rachel. You weren't much use when you _weren't _rushing to my aide on Friday night! It was Santana that saved my ass!" Quinn shouted forcefully at the stunned ghost. Quinn regretted the words as soon as they had left her lips and her hands flew to her mouth as if she could take them back and pretend she'd never said anything at all. After all, it wasn't Rachel's fault she couldn't help that night. The pills Quinn had been taking had temporarily blocked out most of Rachel's contact, essentially rendering her useless. Quinn dared to meet the brunette's eyes, lifting her head up to meet tear shimmering eyes. She watched as an awry of emotions flashed over those pained, chocolate pits, each one seemed to melt into them, leaving an imprint as they changed into the next. Shock, anger and finally hurt. A lump caught in Quinn's throat but she swallowed it down.  
"I'm so sorry," Quinn breathed, letting her eyes drop away from Rachel. She couldn't look at her right now. She felt horrible. Her words hung in the air, creating a suffocating tension that made it hard for Quinn to breathe.

The blonde jolted upright and her body became ridged as she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She looked up but Rachel was gone, still somehow managing to leave an echo of emotion that lingered densely. Guilt shot through Quinn and she turned to meet Puck's sympathetic stare.

"Trouble in paradise?" he asked in hopes of making the girl laugh but she didn't. She couldn't, she felt too guilty and angry with herself. She huffed and shrugged at him. "You want me to go? It's obvious you have shit to sort out."

"Do you mind?"

"Nah, Ms Langley needs her pool cleaning anyways," he wiggled his eyebrows at Quinn. Now that drew giggle out of Quinn and Puck grinned at his success. She really did find his covertness amusing sometimes. "You want a ride home after?" Quinn shook her head.

"No, that's alright. I only live ten minutes away from here, I can walk," she smiled lazily at him.

"Okay, well call me if you need me."

"I wi-" she chocked the rest of her sentence out as he pulled her into a tight hug. She immediately melted into him. Yeah the guy could be a pig but he was sweet. He reassured her and calmed her if only a bit. He broke the hug and stepped back.

"Slaters Q," he waved to her before exiting through the door, letting it shut quietly behind him.

Quinn sighed with frustration as she swept a hand through disgruntled, blonde hair. She took the steps two at a time, fully knowing where Rachel would be and she knew that their approaching conversation wasn't going to be a pleasant one.  
The door was slightly ajar and she was quite certain that she could hear faint sobbing noises from behind it. Quinn flinched; she'd never meant to upset the ghost. The blonde decided to knock on the door instead of just walking in, as to give Rachel time to gather herself. Quinn waited but didn't receive a response on the other side. The sobs had stopped and now she was faced with an unbearable silence.

"Rachel?" Quinn tested as she pushed the door open. The ghost was sat on the floor with her knees raised to her chest and her head resting on top of them. Her back was turned to Quinn who shuffled over and sat down next to her tentatively as she made sure to leave a comfortable amount of space between them. "I didn't mean it," she said remorsefully.

Rachel lifted her head licking her lips and casted her eyes to anywhere but in Quinn's direction. Then, in the blink of an eye, all the emotion that had previously been held in those chocolate pools dissipated and Quinn was left with a stony, unreadable expression.

"He's quite the catch," the ghost scoffed sarcastically. Still her apathetic features didn't falter and Quinn shifted uncomfortably on the floor.

She rolled her eyes at the ghost. "He's a friend Rachel. You know how I feel about you." Rachel ignored her and carried on with her own train of thought.

"He likes you, it's obvious."

"I like you," Quinn said firmly.

"He's alive."

"He's not you."

"Do you have an answer for everything?" Rachel scowled.

"Don't frown, it causes wrinkles," Quinn joked, attempting to lighten the atmosphere but failed at Rachel locked her eyes onto Quinn's and glowered at her. Then she sighed and her face relaxed.

"We can't be together Quinn. I'm dead, you're alive. It's not normal."

"I can see ghosts, I've never been normal," Quinn chuckled but Rachel's stubborn exterior didn't falter.

"We can't be together," Rachel repeated more firmly this time.

Quinn sighed. "I know," she paused. "But I want to be." She grabbed Rachel's hand who flinched in shock but ultimately let Quinn keep hold. The ghost met Quinn's eyes, unsure of what the spontaneous action was leading to. "I can feel you," Quinn started. "I can see you, I can hear you and I can…" Quinn trailed off and leaned in slowly but deliberately to meet Rachel lips, brushing against them with her own ever so slightly before drawing back and holding the brunette's wistful stare. "…kiss you," she finished. The ghost tasted her lips then shook her head, dropping Quinn's hand. She pushed herself up off the floor and walked over to the window. Quinn swallowed her hurt.

"I've been having nightmares ever since Friday," she told Rachel, easing the stinging tension by changing the subject. She'd promised Rachel she'd explain things so she was taking her shot. Rachel still didn't look at her. Quinn continued from the floor, "about this house." This time, Rachel perked her head up. Quinn bit into her cheek. She definitely knew something. Quinn decided to carry on, wondering just how long it would take for Rachel's walls to come crashing down.  
"I'm in one of the rooms and I'm terrified like you wouldn't believe. I'm scared of something- someone," she corrected. "I can hear footsteps on the other side of the door and I find myself stuffing this weird box I'm holding into a hiding place before the door swings open. This figure walks in," Quinn shivers. "It's not good, I can tell. It's ominous and as it walks towards me, I scream and _always _wake up." Quinn inhales deeply, steadying her nerves. "Do you know anything about that?" Rachel shook her head and Quinn hated the fact that she couldn't see Rachel's face to read her thought process behind her eyes, but she was almost certain that the ghost was lying. "What about the fact I had a ghost in my room last night?"

"You've always had ghosts in your room Quinn," Rachel said lamely.

"Not like this one. This was evil Rachel. Like whatever it is that inhabits this house. In fact it was too alike for my liking," Quinn subtly goaded. When Rachel didn't respond Quinn grew tired of playing the waiting game. She wanted to know the truth. "What do you know Rachel?" The ghost turned to face her with tear stained cheeks and she looked at Quinn pleadingly. As if begging the blonde to stop trying to pry whatever it was out of her. "Rachel!" Quinn said, raising her voice.

"You're not going to like it Quinn. That's why I don't want to tell you, but you keep pushing and pushing."

"Just," she softened her tone, "tell me. Please." Quinn even threw in a reassuring, soft smile.

Rachel sighed and sat down against the wall, facing Quinn. "On Saturday, when you yelled at me, I started to realise then, but I wasn't sure."

"Realise what Rachel?"

"That the ghost in this house was getting stronger through you," Rachel finished in a whisper, almost so quiet that Quinn had to strain her ears to listen.

"What? What do you mean," a terrifying realisation scolded Quinn's brain. "Are you saying that…" she swallowed, unable to finish her sentence.

Rachel met her confused gaze and slowly started to nod. "He's latched onto you Quinn. You're being-"

"Possessed," Quinn finished for her, exhaling deeply as she felt her heartbeat rise rapidly, threatening to burst free from her chest. Rachel nodded regretfully. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wasn't sure until now. Now that you mentioned the dreams. He's growing stronger Quinn and pretty soon you're going to lose yourself."

Quinn shot to her feet, wide eyed and panicked. "Well how the hell do we stop it? How the hell do we get this thing out of me?" She was yelling without realising it.

Rachel scoffed back a cry and hung her head. "By destroying it," she said faintly.

"And how do we do that?"

"You burn the house down to the ground," she hesitated and screwed her hands up tight on her lap. "With him in it. _All_ of him." Realisation stated to dawn on Quinn and she felt herself stumble back, her legs felt weak and she crumpled to the floor. "You have to be in the house Quinn."

"I have to die?" Quinn spoke, still majorly stunned and not sure how to respond appropriotly to what she'd been told.

"Not necessarily. You just have to be in the house long enough for him to leave your body. Once he knows the house is going to be demolished, he'll do all he can to stop it. Then it's your chance to run Quinn. Run and never give a second thought about me or the house."

"What about you? What will happen to you?" Quinn asked, wiping the beads of sweat that had formed on her forehead as the answer became clearer and clearer.

Rachel shrugged and smiled sadly, "I'll finally be able to move on." Quinn looked away, afflicted.

"Why didn't you tell me before? We could have burnt this place down to the ground before he even had a chance to consume me." She felt her rage ignite but managed to keep it in check. At least now she knew why she was lashing out at everyone, and it horrified her to know the truth.

"From the first time you walked in here, he managed to cling to you. It's because of your," Rachel stopped as she searched for the right word to describe Quinn's ability, "gift. It made it easier to establish a connection with you and infiltrate you. Without you even knowing. It didn't even cross my mind to begin with and now I've only just started to realised when it's far too late. Time's running out Quinn, soon you're just going to be an empty shell of yourself, watching behind your own eyes, unable to do anything about it." Fresh, guilty tears spilled over Rachel's eyelids and she wiped them on the sleeve of her sweater.

"Why didn't you tell me we could destroy it by destroying the house Rachel?" Quinn spoke firmly. "Why didn't you say something? Anything!" She blasted, her enraged voice seemed to reverberate around the house but when it came back to her ears, it didn't sound familiar. It sounded like someone else entirely.

Rachel spoke gingerly, considering what she was about to say carefully. "I was afraid. I didn't know what would happen to me. I didn't know where I'd end up or if I'd simply cease to exist but now everything has changed that. I'm ready Quinn. I have to be, to save you." Quinn chocked back an anguished cry. She'd been doomed from the start. If only she'd never walked into this stupid house, if she hadn't moved to this stupid town, if she hadn't have dropped her necklace and been hit by that SUV then she could have lived a normal, blissfully ignorant life.

Without a word, the blonde hauled herself to her feet. Purposely avoiding Rachel's eyes. She needed to go home and think. She needed to consider everything and accept that she could either fight for herself and Rachel or give up and end up becoming just another one of this spirit's puppets. "I need to go home and think. I can't be in here right now," Quinn said calmly. Rachel nodded understandingly even though Quinn wasn't looking at her.

"Can I- can I talk to you tonight?" Rachel asked tentatively. "I'm worried Quinn."

Quinn bit on her tongue to hold back what she was thinking. _Rachel_ was worried? Quinn was the one that was being possessed, not her! Instead she nodded, half meaning it, half regretting it. She didn't know if she wanted to talk to the ghost again until she'd had a lot of time to think but she cared about Rachel too much to hurt her by saying no.

She walked out of the room on the verge of tears as her thought process became and irrational mess. Suddenly an idea hit her. She looked back to Rachel's room, making sure the ghost wasn't about to follow her, then she made her way to the familiar room in her dream. If that box was real, then maybe, just maybe there was something in there that could help.

She lightly padded to what she hoped was the right room, and twisted the handle. The door parted without creaking and Quinn stepped inside. It looked different from the room in her dream. There was no bed, no decoration and no box. Only debris and grime adorned the room now. Quinn walked over to the stone wall and began to pry at the bricks, testing for lose ones. After a while, she still had no luck and thought that her dream was just a wild goose chase but as her fingers tugged at a loose brick and she grinned at her achievement. As the brick came free from its position, he grin grew. There behind it was a box. The exact same box she'd seen in her dream. She cheered internally and grabbed the box. It was small and light. She paused, heaving something clang down the hallway. She quickly shoved the object into her bag and ran down the stairs and out of the door. She felt awful for not telling Rachel but she'd figured she'd do that tonight when Rachel made contact on the Walkie-talkie. Quinn ran all the way home, eager to find out what was in the box.

"Quinn honey, is that you?" Judy called from the kitchen as her daughter made her way into the house.

"Yeah mom," she replied.

"Dinner will be ready in an hour."

"Okay, thanks. I'm gonna' go to my room." Quinn didn't stay and talk to her mother; she marched straight to her room, shut the door and sat down on the edge of her bed as she scrabbled inside of her otherwise empty bag for the box. She exhaled deeply as she eyed the bit of wood. Frayed, dirty, mysterious. Exactly how it was depicted in her dream. Except now, she was holding the thing in real life.

She lifted the lid and her eyebrow shot up curiously. There were pictures and notes, scrawled in old fashioned, neat handwriting. She picked up the stack of pictures first and began scouting through them. Most of the pictures were of a woman and a man, not smiling but not frowning as they looked at the camera. Then Quinn stopped, dropping half of the pictures as she started at the single one in her hand. It was a group photo of a man and a woman standing at the back of three other people. One was a child and the other two were teenagers, one of which looked like a certain brunette ghost. Rachel's unchanged face stared back at her from the photograph. She was the only one smiling, no, beaming a megawatt smile. What was Rachel doing on these photos? Hadn't she died just five years ago? Why had she lied to Quinn? What on earth was going on? Questions and thoughts swam sickly around her head and she felt lightheaded and nauseous. Just then, the familiar crackle of the Walkie-talkie sounded from her bedside drawer.

"Quinn? Quinn are you okay? I'm still worried about you," Rachel asked concerned.

Quinn felt her blood boil. Rachel had been lying all along. She was going to find out why but not tonight, tonight she was far too angry with the ghost and she knew one thing for sure, she was having a difficult time trusting her now. What was really going on? Quinn launched the box across the room and grabbed for the Walkie-talkie, pausing briefly.

"Quinn?" Rachel's voice questioned and the blonde flipped the device over, and tore the batteries free from their holdings. She couldn't even bare to stand listening to her voice. She dropped the device and flung herself face down onto her bed, burying her head into her pillow and screamed out all of her anger and frustration. Whenever she managed to take a step forward, something- whether it be the fact she was being possessed, the fact she could die in a fire or the fact that Rachel, the girl she had fallen in love with was lying flat out to her face. Quinn's head shot up. _Love. _She loved Rachel. A ghost. A ghost who was lying to her. A ghost who couldn't be trusted.

Well, shit.

* * *

_Thank you for reading and hopefully enjoying! :) _


	13. Chapter 13

**Woo update! Sorry about the long wait! I've had so much stuff going on with uni, it's crazy :') Thank you to whoever is still reading this after so long! Also for the feedback :) Enjoy!**

* * *

"Wow, you look like crap," Santana stated as she dropped her lunch tray down onto the table with a hefty slam. Quinn flinched from the noise and frowned, noticing the only thing on the tray was a red, metal flask. She guessed it was filled with one of the Cheerleading coach's mandatory food supplement that Cheerio's were made to drink in order to be 'healthy'. Quinn's mouth downturned at the thought of drinking that herself.

"Thanks," Quinn replied bitterly, not even bothering to look at the Latina but continued to glare at her tray as she subsided into thought. Truth was, Quinn knew she was right, no matter how bluntly or rudely Santana stated it. Quinn had started to notice a change in her health over the past few weeks. The dark circles that had slowly appeared under her eyes were now prominent and were evidence from the nightmares claiming Quinn's mind most nights. Her usually glowing skin had become pale, leaving the blonde with a sickly complexion and her hair was dry and brittle. She knew that her time was running out to stop the malevolent spirit, but after finding that picture of Rachel, she no longer had any idea of what to do.

She'd not spoken to the brunette since the night she made the regretful discovery. Many times, Quinn had wanted to just storm into the house and demand to know what in the hell was going on, but every time she mustered the will to do so, it seemed to disappear. Quinn didn't want to believe that this girl that she had fallen for had based their friendship and whatever else may have been shared between them on a bed of deceit. She knew that Rachel was lying- she just didn't know why. But time was running out and Quinn knew she'd have to force the truth out of Rachel sooner or later. The blonde gulped a wave of nausea down and buried her forehead in the palm of her hand.

Santana sat down in the seat across from Quinn and patiently studied the blonde. "What's up Quinn? And don't say nothing- I can detect bullshit from a mile away."

Quinn sighed and slowly lifted her gaze to meet concerned brown eyes. "It's a long story San."

Santana momentarily looked away from Quinn and smiled softly at Brittany as she sat down in the seat next to Quinn and wrapped her arms around the short haired blonde. "We've got time Quinn," Brittany said in a reassuring tone, retracting her arms from around Quinn.

"Maybe later? I don't really feel like talking about it now," Quinn said as she reburied her head in her hands to make a point.

Santana clucked her tongue in frustration. "Okay, well how was Christmas break? Seriously, we've not seen you since research at the library and that was like, three weeks ago."

"Yeah, I thought you'd become a raccoon Quinn," Brittany said softly, causing Quinn to look at Santana in question.

"_Recluse_, Britt. Recluse," Santana clarified.

"Oh," was Brittany's only reply but a grin erupted on her face.

The confusion managed to draw a giggle from Quinn. Somehow Brittany always managed to brighten any situation, though sometimes Quinn wondered if she did it on purpose to make other's laugh. The blonde cheerio wasn't as 'stupid' as some people deemed.

"Decent," Quinn started. "But not great. Christmas day in my house is all fancy dining and long cooking that doesn't even get eaten because everyone gets smashed before noon. My mom and my aunt go so drunk that they managed to fall into the Christmas tree- which set on fire because of all the damned temperamental lights they felt the need to decorate it with. But it was eventful I guess." She chuckled at the now laughable situation, though at the time she thought the whole house was going to burn down. "How was yours?" She directed the question to both of them, glancing from the Latina to the taller girl.

"Oh, you know," Santana said slyly before casting a smirk in Brittany's direction. "Eventful."

Quinn rolled her eyes but giggled at the obvious meaning behind Santana's short description. "On second thought, I'd rather not know," she giggled.

"Hey girls, Santana," Puck called out as he walked over to their table.

"Watch it Puckerman," Santana chided as she folded her arms and glared at the Mohawked boy.

Puck ignored her and Sat down opposite Brittany. "Long time no speak Quinn, how've you been?"

Quinn managed to give him a fake smile. "Good, you?"

"Ah, I've been busy. Cleaning pools and stuff."

"Puck, it's winter. Who the hell wants their pools cleaned at this time of year?" Santana asked in bewilderment.

"Lonely women, that's who," he replied with a smirk as he cockily raised an eyebrow.

Santana scoffed. "You're such a slut."

"You want to play that game? _Really _Santana?" Puck taunted, earning a threatening scowl from the girl who just sat back in her seat in defeat. "She loves me really."

"Yeah? Didn't know you were delusional too," Santana quipped, though an unguarded smile blew her bravado.

Puck dismissed the girl with a smug grin and turned his attention back to Quinn. "You sick or something? You don't look so hot Fabray and usually you're smoking," he said, winking at her.

Quinn rolled her eyes and huffed. "I'm just tired that's all. And the shrink that my dad makes me see really isn't doing anything to elevate stress. He just makes it worse," she grumbled, thinking back to how aggravated Dr Shepard had made her at their last session. It wasn't enough that he'd already diagnosed her with a mental disorder, he'd laughed in her face when she'd unloaded a few ghostly encounters too him. She thought if she told him just a little of what she'd been through, then maybe he'd actually start to see things her way and realise she was telling the truth. She was wrong. Quinn shook her head angrily at the memory and Puck rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Screw him. The guy sounds like he's got one huge stick shoved up his ass," the boy said.

"You have no idea," Quinn groaned. "Listen, I need to go. I've gotta' hand in an English assignment I forgot this morning so I'll see you guys later." She pushed her chair back and swiftly manoeuvred her way towards the exit of the cafeteria, not missing the concerned glances that were shared amongst her friends.

Quinn walked through the empty hallway feeling a goading sense of unease rile in the pit of her stomach. There were no other students illustrating their presence and the rusted, red lockers loomed over her in an almost ominous manner. She gulped and shook her head, willing the sensation away.  
Quinn stopped in front of her locker and froze when she heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps behind her. Whispers and snickers claimed her full attention and suddenly she found herself wanting to climb into the metal confinement and lock the door behind her.

"Hey!" an assertive male voice shouted to the back of her head. Quinn visibly flinched at the sound which disrupted the once foreboding silence and replaced it with malicious intent. "Hey!" the boy repeated- frustration evident in his voice. "Are you deaf as well as crazy?"  
Quinn's cheeks hazed with heat and panic started to colour her blood until she heard it pounding behind her ear drums. Reluctantly, she shifted to face them, pressing her back firmly against the wall of lockers.

The blonde faced a brutish looking group of jocks who were accompanied by smug looking Cheerios. Some of them eyed Quinn with disdain whilst others mirth which made Quinn gulp. Something was wrong but it was only when she spotted the plastic, slushie filled cups in each of the jock's and cheerleader's hands did she realise what they had planned for her.

The group started moving towards her and cornered her from all sides, leaving no room for escape. The last thing Quinn saw before an awry of different coloured slushie blinded her was Holly shooting her a satisfied smirk and in that instant, Quinn knew that this stunt was payback for what happened between them in the mall. Quinn internally shouted at herself for being so naïve into thinking that standing her ground against the head cheerleader would have no repercussions.

Quinn stood shaking whilst she heard the clop of cups being dropped to the ground and footsteps that left her. She heard laughing and claps of hands as the bullies congratulated each other with a display of high-fives. Though, the last thing she heard was a sneering whisper in her right ear, "You're nothing but a crazy, pathetic bitch and if you ever lay a hand on me again, I'll make sure it's more than just slushies pummelling you." Holly didn't say another word, but Quinn knew she hadn't left. She knew Holly was waiting for a response- an excuse to follow through on her recent promise.

Quinn shook not because she was cold or frightened but from rage. From pure hate for all of the jocks and cheerleaders but most of for the red headed captain. Quinn swore under her breath as she wiped the stinging slush from her eyes, causing Holly to look upon her in amusement. Quinn locked her blazing glare onto the smug captain and noticed that the Cheerio's amusement was interrupted and ultimately destroyed as the cheerleader flinched. It was barely visible but it was enough to give her fear away. A split-second later, Holly felt a fiery, exploding pain rupture from the centre of her face as Quinn's intent fist made impact.  
However, the blonde simply stood there and stared in contempt as she acknowledged the captain scream in agony. Holly clutched her bloody nose, unable to control the profuse bleeding. It was only when Holly managed to gather herself, only when the other jocks and cheerleaders slowly realised what had actually happened, and only when they all started charging towards her did Quinn finally snap out of her trance-like state.

The daunting realisation of what the now panicking blonde had done was too much. Quinn turned on her heal and pounded her feet against the solid floor as fast as she could. She felt the muscles in her legs seize up, ache and protest but she carried on. She couldn't bear thinking about what would happen if she didn't get away. Adrenaline surged through her body, coursing through her blood stream in a final effort to aid escape and all Quinn could feel was the burning sensation occupying every organ, every muscle and every bit of her entirety.

Quinn dared to turn her head to see how far behind her pursuers were but to her surprise, they were no longer in sight. Still, she kept running until she was out of the school doors and on her routine path home. She knew going home was a bad idea. Her parents would flip if they found out she'd ditched school, but what choice did she have? She could either stay at school and get beaten to a pulp or go home and at worst, get grounded for a week or two. The blonde slowed to catch her breath, doubling over as she gasped in an abundant amount of delicious air. The deep burning sensation in her lungs seemed to cool down and the erratic pounding in her chest slowed, allowing Quinn to feel as though she had control of her body once again. She waited until she'd fully caught her breath and then she resumed her walk home, sincerely hoping that her parents were at work. If she could last for another two hours without her parents seeing her then she'd be fine. School would have finished by that time and Russell and Judy would be none the wiser about their daughter's whereabouts for the second half of the school day.

Quinn daintily crept towards her front door as she listened for any sign of her parents being home. As she stood and listened, she thought about how stupid she must look- sneaking around her own home. Quinn relaxed her shoulders as she gingerly grabbed the door handle. She turned it and gave the wood a slight push. Quinn could have killed someone the moment the door squeaked, disrupting the thick silence that aired the house. The Blonde froze for a moment. If her parents were home, they'd surely have-  
"Quinn." Quinn swore she felt her heart skip a beat when she heard her father's stern voice sound from the living room. It was the same voice she had learned to associate with trouble. "Get in here now girl," Russell boomed from the other room, causing Quinn to clumsily scramble into the house. She felt like her heart had permanently frozen. She was so sure her parents would be out, but now that that plan was ruined, she'd have to think of another reason as to why she was blatantly skipping school.

Quinn stopped in the doorway of the living room as soon as she saw her father's enraged face. She quickly cast her eyes to her mother. Judy couldn't look Quinn in the face. Instead, she cast her gaze downwards and as far away from her daughter as she could possible. It was a look that Quinn had seen many times painted across her mother's face. It was disappointment and shame and it hurt like a bitch to know that's what her mother thought of her.  
The blonde gulped back a mixture of anger and tears as she slowly turned back to her father. Russell gestured to the seat that faced theirs and Quinn quickly sat down. She'd learned what happened when she pushed her father too far and she could tell that right now, that was the last thing she wanted to do.  
Russell cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest as she he relaxed back into his seat. "Quinn, why are you home so early?" Quinn hesitantly held her father's questioning stare for a moment before answering. He sounded calm, but there was something about his voice that she didn't trust. She could tell that something was wrong.

"I-I was sent home by the nurse, I wasn't feeling too well," Quinn lied as she internally flinched over how fake it sounded, but then again she did look ill.

"Is that so?" her father asked as he raised an eyebrow. Quinn didn't answer. She could tell by the way her father's face was slowly starting to turn red and how he had started to grind his teeth that he saw right through her lie. Suddenly, he snapped to his feet, an intimidation attempt that Quinn was so used to when she'd done something wrong previously.

"Because your mother and I received a very strange phone call from school saying that you physically assaulted another girl and then fled from school grounds." Russell slammed the palm of his hand against the wall and Quinn flinched in her seat. "I had to come out of work to deal with this Quinn! Do you know how much of my time you are wasting right now?" Quinn didn't answer, she wasn't supposed to.

Russell sat back down and buried his head in his hands, taking deep breaths. Judy rushed to his side and rubbed his back soothingly. Quinn couldn't help but scoff at the dramatic sight, but as soon as the noise had left her mouth she regretted it. Her father's head shot up and he marched towards Quinn until he was stood a little but two feet away. "Don't you dare laugh at the situation young lady!" he shouted.

"Dad, I wasn't, I-"

"Just tell us why you did it? The school said that the girl you attacked broke her nose. _You _broke her nose Quinn,"

"They all threw slushies at me, look! Look at my clothes," Quinn tried to explain as she held her sticky t-shirt up for her parent's viewing.

"Enough!" Russell's voice plunged the air into complete silence and the only thing Quinn could hear was the sound of her father's heavy breathing and her own heartbeat, pounding wildly within her chest. "Some kids throw slushies at you. Do you think the appropriate action was to break a girl's nose? You could face expulsion Quinn! Do you have any idea how bad this reflects on us?"

Quinn resisted the overwhelming urge to roll her eyes. Of course this is what her parents were most upset about. God forbid the Fabray household is flawed.  
"Why didn't you tell us Quinn? If you were getting bullied, you should have told someone, not react the way you did. It's not a Christian thing to do, it's not something my little Quinnie would do," Judy said calmly as she tried to establish a more relaxed atmosphere before things truly exploded but for some reason, Quinn had a feeling that her mother's subtle efforts would be in vain.

"Because I was being bullied for seeing ghosts," Quinn finished quietly, not daring to meet either of her parent's eyes. She knew how they felt about this subject.

"For heaven's sake, not this again," Judy huffed as she threw up her arms.

"Why won't you believe me? I'm not crazy! I'm your daughter, you have to believe me. Please," Quinn pleaded but neither of her parents said a word. The blonde teenager licked her lips and studied her father. He stood still, staring at her as something deep began to turn over in his thoughts. Without warning he spoke,

"Get out." Both Quinn's and Judy's eyes sprang wide and Quinn was sure for a moment that she'd heard wrong. "I said get out. You have thirty minutes to pack your things and go." She hadn't heard wrong. He sounded calm; tired as though he couldn't be bothered with his daughter and her 'problems' anymore. He couldn't be bothered with his 'little Quinnie'.

"Russell-"

"Don't," Russell scolded his wife as he shook her off his arm. "I won't have this in my household. I'm trying to sustain a respectable household and here we have you," he gestured at Quinn with a wave of his arm, "doing everything you can to ruin our name. You're destroying this household Quinn." He shook his head and rubbed his chin. "If you want to rebel against our rules and make a mockery of yourself and us then maybe you shouldn't be here. So get out. I'm done Quinn." Russell stopped and turned towards Judy who looked away from both his and Quinn's stare and said absolutely nothing. He turned back to face Quinn. "We're done."

Thirty minutes later, Quinn walked down the stairs with a backpack full of clothes and various items that could be of use. She cast her gaze back towards her room as she wondered if she'd ever see it again. She didn't know how to react to what was happening. Part of her was relieved to have an excuse to be free of them, but another part of her was furious and upset. Where would she go? What was she supposed to do? Then of course, it hurt like hell to know that her mother idly stood by and said nothing, allowing this to happen. Her father stood at the bottom of the stairs, impatiently tapping his foot.

Quinn didn't dare look at him as she walked past him and towards the open door. There was no sign of her mother, though she suspected that Judy was hiding or drinking away the problem as usual. Not two seconds after she was officially outside did she hear the hefty slam of the door behind her, sending a gust of air towards her- and then came the yelling. She kept walking, not caring about what they were saying to each other.

Quinn came to a stop after ten minutes of walking. Her whole walk had been silent in her mind. The only way she could describe how she felt was _numb._ She didn't, couldn't feel anything. It was as if her brain had shut down, refusing to think about anything at all. Quinn snapped out of her stupor and glanced around her. The sun was just beginning to set and the birds were singing their last songs for the day. The blonde shivered as her breath hung in the crisp air. Quinn found it curious as to why she was standing in front of this house. In front of the house that caused all the problems she was now dealing with in her life. In front of the house that was _killing_ her.  
She gasped as she felt a hot flare start to haze her cheeks and heat her insides. Now she felt something. She felt anger and rage. "Rachel!" She yelled at the ghost's window. Her voice echoed throughout the garden leaving a continuing imprint of Quinn's emotion.

She stared up at Rachel's window and just as she was about to shout again, a familiar face appeared behind the musty glass. Quinn let her shoulders drop but shook her head when the ghost gestured for her to come inside. Rachel rolled her eyes and opened the window which creaked with age and neglect.  
Neither one said a word. Quinn was visibly angry but Rachel looked equally angry, if not upset. Finally Rachel broke the silence, "Where have you been Quinn?" Quinn was surprised at how casual Rachel sounded, as if everything was normal. "I haven't seen you for nearly a month. You never reply on that device thingy." The brunette closed her eyes and drew in a breath.

"When did you die Rachel?" Rachel's eyes shot open and began to cloud with puzzlement.

"I told you, five years ago," the ghost calmly replied, furrowing her brow in confusion. "Quinn, what-"

"Then what is this," Quinn questioned as she dug into the pocket of her coat and held up the phone she had bought from Puck's store before Christmas. Quinn needed to be sure that the girl in that black and white photo was Rachel, but she also needed that slight chance that she'd got it all wrong and Rachel wasn't lying to her. She needed a definite answer.

Rachel studied the object and the blonde noted the slight panic that began to show in the creases that were forming on her brow. The observation lasted about three seconds before Rachel threw her hands up. It was short but it gave Quinn her answer.

"This is ridiculous Quinn, of course I know what that is, stop acting weird and give me some answers," Rachel replied defensively as she darted her gaze nervously.

"Then what is it?" Quinn goaded but Rachel remained silent and clenched her jaw. Quinn licked her lips and looked directly up to the ghost. "When did you die Rachel?" she repeated.

"Quinn I told you, five-"

"Stop lying to me!" Quinn shouted, once again disrupting the stillness surrounding them. "I found a picture Rachel. Of a family. _Your_family. You were in that picture." She stopped to catch a breath. "Who are you?"

"Quinn, I don't," she paused. "I don't know what you're talking about." Quinn heard the lies as they were spoken to her. She could feel that dark rage boiling her blood and sending her mind crazy. She knew she had to calm down and leave Rachel and this damned house until she had time to process everything clearly. She didn't like losing control of herself. She didn't want to feel the anger. _His _anger. She couldn't lose herself. She was going to get her life back to normal.

The ghost stood unmoving, gazing into the darkening garden. Quinn on the other hand continued to look at Rachel before scoffing and turning on her heal.  
"Go to hell," was the last thing she said to the ghost before running back towards the path that led her there. She heard Rachel call out from behind her but had absolutely no intention of going back.

She needed to clear her head for now and get away from everything if just for one night. But as Quinn slowed to the side of a vacant road she realised that right now, what she needed most was somewhere to stay. It was still winter and therefore still unbearably cold. She pulled out her phone but cursed under her breath as the thing failed to turn on. She must have forgotten to charge it. She angrily shoved the plastic device back into her pocket and sat down on the sidewalk.

Quinn brought her knees up to her chest and folded her arms on top of them, burying her head. Before she knew what was going on, she found herself crying and realisation hit her. Her parents had kicked her out, the girl she thought she loved lied to her face and every day she was left in the dark- she was slowly loosing herself to the spirit of that damned house.

* * *

**I was listening to this: ** watch?v=juUQ0Gg1lSU&feature=relmfu** whilst writing the part about Quinn getting kicked out and then with her and Rachel. It just seemed to fit :') Thank you for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14

A shiver tingled along Quinn's spine as she huddled against her knees on the cold ground. She'd been sat there for nearly an hour. After she couldn't cry anymore, her mind once again became blank. She didn't even stir when the occasional car roared past, spraying her with water from the small puddles that had accumulated beside the road. Quinn was at a loss. She couldn't think properly, she didn't know what to do and she had no idea of what was going to happen to her.

The beam of oncoming headlights blinded her as another car made its way along the road. Though to her surprise, this car started to slow down until she realised that it was going to stop right by her. She stood up and noted the vehicle as it slowed and eventually stopped. It didn't look like any of the cars that her friends owned and she was starting to feel the clench of unease overrule her previously bleak thoughts.  
A blacked out window started to roll down, revealing the driver. Quinn knew the person behind the wheel. It was someone she loathed with a burning passion, someone she had absolutely no time for- especially now. She glared at Dr Shepard. Out of all the people it could have been, it was her least favourite.

"Hello Quinn," the man greeted pleasantly with a small, generic smile.

"Dr Shepard," Quinn nodded curtly in return.

He reached over to the passenger side and pulled the handle, nudging the door open. "Need a ride?" It was a simple question and if it had been anyone else, Quinn would have said 'yes' in a heartbeat, but this wasn't just anyone. Eventually Quinn picked up her bag and sighed as she walked around to the passenger side and hopped in without a word.  
"Where to?" Dr Shepard asked as he started to drive. Quinn hadn't really thought about that. Where could she go? Who would take her in? The psychiatrist waited patiently as the blonde chewed her lip in thought. Her phone was dead. Maybe he'd let her use his? She sighed with frustration. She was reluctant to ask for this man's help, accepting the lift had already pushed it. Eventually, she managed to shove her pride to one side.

"Could I borrow your phone please? I need to ask a friend if I can stop at hers but my phone's dead," Quinn asked through nearly gritted teeth. For a moment, she thought that Dr Shepard wasn't going to answer her and she began to doubt that he had heard her at all, but then she noticed something peculiar. The man's eyes narrowed slightly and Quinn noticed how he started to grind his jaw. Then, in a second it was all gone.

"I'm sorry Quinn, but I've left my phone back home. Do you know the way to your friends?"

"I think so. It's in Lima Heights Adjacent. Do you know where that is?"

"Yes," was all he replied and the car was plunged into a thick silence that made Quinn's hairs stand on end.

The teenager shifted her gaze towards the window and started concentrating on the light that flooded the car every time they drove past a lamppost. Then she felt it. A tingle trickled its way down the blonde's back. The same feeling she received every time something wasn't _right_. She swallowed thickly and turned more towards the window so Dr Shepard couldn't study her face. The feeling started to spread throughout her whole body, now hitting her in crippling waves. Something was wrong; she needed to get out of this car now.

Without turning to face him, Quinn said, "I can get out here, it's not that far and I don't want to really make you drive all the way there. You've already helped me out," she said calmly, holding her nerve. She couldn't stand to be in this car anymore, the feeling of unease was crushing and she felt like she was about to suffocate under it.

The psychiatrist started to chuckle. "I'm sorry Quinn, but I must insist that you remain in the car. You're very important to me you see."

Quinn's eyebrow's shot up and she now turned to face the man. As she turned towards him, she started to feel dizzy, as if the car was spinning in circles. "What-"she stopped, trying to get a hold on herself. "- what do you mean?" She slumped back into her seat, unable to sit up properly. She let out a shaky breath as her efforts to move were thwarted by the numb feeling occupying her muscles.

"All in due time Quinn, I promise." He sneered the last word, sending another shiver rippling throughout the blonde's body. She tried to look at him but her vision started to darken and her body felt heavy, too heavy to move. Hell, even breathing seemed to be effort for her at this point.

"I think, I think something's wrong with me," she managed to husk out.

Her eyes shut on their own accord and her head lolled against her shoulder. "Don't worry Quinn, I'm a doctor," were the last words she heard before everything that was real seemed to vanish, being replaced only with darkness.

When Quinn began to stir, the first thing she realised was that her hands and feet were bound with strong, black tape. Even though she could feel her strength and energy returning, it still wasn't enough to free her. Beads of sweat began to form on her brow, her breath grew rapid and desperate, her muscles ached with strain and then it all stopped. Quinn stopped. A sense of familiarisation washed over her as she realised that she knew where she was.

She was tied up in the house. Rachel's house. The house that started it all and the one place she'd rather be anywhere but now. Quinn frantically tugged at her bounds, desperate to get free. She couldn't be here, not now especially. It was well after dark, how long would it be before the spirit realised? And what had happened to Dr Shepard? Had he done this? Was he dead? Questions bombarded the blonde's running mind and she had to close her eyes tight, letting out deep breaths so she could calm down enough to think.

Quinn picked up the unmistakable tread of footsteps heading towards her and then she heard the door squeak open and a body shuffle through it. Quinn didn't know who to expect but she sure as hell didn't expect to see Dr Shepard, unscathed and standing right in front of her.

"What- what happened?" Quinn asked, feeling a dull pain tear along the back of her throat.

Dr Shepard smirked and perched on a dusty window ledge, folding his arms. "You passed out Quinn," he said casually as though nothing was out of the ordinary about having a teenaged girl tied up in front of him.

Quinn's eyes widened and she scoffed, shaking her head- locking eyes with the psychiatrist. "Did you drug me?" she angrily accused. Dr Shepard chuckled to himself and shook his head. "What's going on? Why have you done this?" For some reason that grasped his attention and his stare fixed on Quinn. There was no more laughter or any sign of kindness in his expression. Now it had become, steely and cruel. Quinn gulped and suddenly realised that she might not like what he had to say.

"No Quinn. I didn't drug you. And as for _why_ I've done this, let's start from the beginning shall we?"

"What could I have possibly done to y-"

"Shut up!" the man spat, effectively shutting Quinn up. She didn't like the vibe he was giving her. It was a familiar, dark, malicious vibe and she felt like if she didn't get away from him and this house soon then she was going to completely loose it.  
"I've been watching you for a while now Quinn. Ever since you decided to intrude my house. You are different from all the other mindless delinquents that enter through its doors. There's something special about you Quinn, and you know what I'm talking about." He looked at her expectedly.

"Now you believe me?" she whispered angrily but the man in front of her simply laughed to himself again.

"I've always believed you Quinn. I knew what you could do as soon as you walked through the door and so could Rachel. You're like a ghost beacon. Ever wonder why you saw so many ghosts Quinn? We can sense what you are and naturally we want your help but some -like myself- find ways to take it." Everything else except one thing had pass right over Quinn's head.

"Rachel? What have you done to her? Where is sh-"

"Relax Quinn. I'd never hurt my own daughter," he said with a sinister grin.

"D-daughter," Quinn said dumbly, hearing nothing in her head but the pounding between her ears. "But, she's dead, she's a ghost and you're-"

"Alive?" He chuckled again. "I can assure you Quinn, I've very much dead and Rachel is very much my daughter.

"But she said her dad's left town, that she died in here after falling down the stairs, she-" the ghost held his hand up to silence her.

"Is that what she told you? Well Quinn, allow me to enlighten you. I used to live in this house," he gestured around with his arms. "I lived here with my wife and three children. Then one day, I found out about my wife's infidelity with the local blacksmith. So in a rage, I killed her and our three children." He clucked his tongue in thought and began to pace around the room. "I then killed myself. The only thing I didn't anticipate was me being trapped here, but you Quinn; you're the answer to that."

"You're out of your goddamn mind," she hissed through gritted teeth.

"I'm not done yet," he chided and resumed pacing. "For some reason, I wasn't the only one who couldn't seem to escape this house. When I came round from my death, I realised that my eldest daughter Rachel was still her and like me couldn't leave. I tried everything to set me free but nothing worked and then you walked in. You see Quinn, I instructed Rachel to draw you in so you'd keep coming back here. I found that by feeding off of your energy I was starting to become more human. One day I could actually taste food and the next I could feel pain. After eighty long years can you imagine that Quinn? To be able to taste and feel again? It's exhilarating and by killing you I will be human again and I will be able to leave this place. For now, I'm powerless and trapped during the day but once you die, that's all going to change."

Quinn sat on the floor in silence. She felt as though someone had punched her square on in the lungs, sending all the air shooting out of her body. Rachel would never do that. She was her friend, she was- they'd- Quinn shook her head angrily. "Shut up! You're lying!"

"Am I?" Dr Shepard asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Why don't you ask Rachel, I'm sure you've got so many burning questions that you're just _dying _to get answers for." He laughed menacingly one last time before leaving the room, his shadow becoming that of at certain brunette ghost.

Quinn lifted her head and locked on to Rachel with a steely glare. The ghost swallowed and cast her guilty eyes away from the blonde's.  
"Is it true?" Quinn asked, though her voice sounded hoarse and barely more than a whisper. When Rachel didn't respond with words and just looked at Quinn with a pleading expression as tears dotted along her eyes- Quinn received her answer. The blonde wouldn't look at Rachel. Instead she chewed her bottom lip in thought, tasting the metallic print of blood as she bit down too hard. "Was it all a lie? Didn't you feel anything for me Rachel?"

"He made me do it Quinn! I didn't have a choice," Rachel explained, hoping Quinn would understand but that was a very slim chance. Anger flashed in Quinn's eyes.

"How could you do this to me Rachel? I truly cared for you, I wanted to help you and all the while it was a trap so your psychotic dad could live again. Everything you told me, everything you said to me, it was all just a lie? I guess it makes sense why you didn't help me that night your _daddy _tried to kill me," she scoffed.

"He made me Quinn I-"

"I love you Rachel!" Quinn stopped short of her outburst, wishing she could recall the words. Rachel looked more shocked than anything if not hurt. "I'm going to die Rachel, do you know that? He's going to kill me." Rachel remained silent and refused to look at the other girl. She knew. Of course she knew. She knew from the start. "Please leave me alone now," Quinn stated.

"Quinn," the ghost said softly.

"I said leave me alone!" Quinn shouted and before she could blink, the ghost was gone. Quinn broke down. She didn't care if Rachel or that bastard doctor could hear her. She needed to vent. She needed to empty herself of the feeling of betrayal, despair, humiliation but most of all heartbreak. How could Rachel have done this to her? Did the ghost care nothing for her at all? What they had, what they had shared had all seemed so genuine and Quinn lapped everything up that the girl told her like a naïve little puppy. She hated this house, the doctor and Rachel.

Quinn began to yell. Angry words turned into even angrier shouts that were twisted with agony. She stopped only when her throat felt as though it would tear open. She didn't have the energy, she just wanted to close her eyes and let this all be over. She could feel the life draining out of her. She'd felt it for weeks but it was only now that she realised she wasn't being _possessed _as Rachel had earlier lead her to believe. No, she was being fed off and it was slowly killing her and filling Shepard with life. _Her life_. And it was all Rachel's doing. Quinn had actually believed she'd found a friend. Someone to talk to, to laugh with, to love. She'd found all of that and now it was all gone. It was just a fabricated string of lies.

"Believe me now girl?" a voice interrupted her from her thoughts. Dr Shepard sneered at her with an arrogant look plastered across his face. "She was never your friend Quinn, let alone anything else. She was just following orders. She lured you in and you fell for it, walking straight into my trap. And do you know the best part?" He walked over to the exhausted girl and whispered in her ear, "You're all alone. Nobody but a couple of ghosts knows where you are. You're going to die here Quinn and there's nobody coming to save you now."

"Why am I not dead then? Why have you kept me here tied up instead of killing me straight away?"

"I've told you Quinn. _All _of your energy needs to be harvested. If you die, that means so does the rest of your life and if I'm to become human then I need it all. It's a good job I didn't actually manage to kill you and your friend that night."

"Go to hell," Quinn said, spitting at him.

"If I wasn't trapped in here then I'm sure I'd already be there," the ghost responded smugly. Quinn said nothing else and waited for him to get bored and leave. "You have about twenty four hours left until you die. The after life's not so bad though, and after a few years, you get used to this place. And you'll have my charming daughter to keep you company."

"Does Rachel know?" Quinn perked up.

"Know what?"

"That she's going to be still stuck here whilst you get to be free?"

Shepard guffawed as though it was the funniest thing he'd heard all night. "Of course she knows. She's too scared and weak to do anything about it though. Do you know what I am Quinn?"

"A twisted, psychotic, sociopathic son of a bitch?" Quinn said, feigning a chipper attitude which was rewarded by a brutal kick to the gut. She doubled over and desperately gasped for air as her lungs burned, igniting fire along her nerve endings and muscles.

"I think I've put up enough with your obnoxious, snarky attitude don't you? But to answer my question, I'm a demon. You see the humans that commit the most heinous acts in life are consumed by evil and darkness in their afterlife. They become demons, normally sent straight to hell to rein torture there but as you can see, I never quite made it."

Quinn spat out a mixture of saliva and blood. She didn't care anymore. She didn't want to listen to his voice; she didn't even want to _feel _presence. She just wanted to be alone. If she was going to die, she didn't want to spend her last hours listening to this head case.

When the demon realised that Quinn wasn't going to respond he smirked and disappeared from the room again. Quinn let her defensive shoulders slump. He was right. No one knew where she was. She was going to die here and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. Her parents had kicked her out, her friend's didn't even know she needed help and the one person she thought had her back for sure turned out to be a liar and a coward.

* * *

**Hope you liked this chapter! I know there wasn't a lot of action and a lot of explaining but don't worry, next chapter's going to be exciting :D**


	15. Chapter 15

Quinn had drifted off sometime after her last encounter with Dr. Shepard, but a curious noise stirred her. It took her a while to focus and she winced, feeling the throbbing pain in her stomach fire up. _Damn demon, _she thought as her consciousness fully returned. Quinn stopped moving and listened when she heard the same noise again. It almost sounded like- Quinn shook her head, refusing to accept the possibility that something good could happen to her tonight.

However, when Quinn heard the unmistakable, angry murmur of, "I swear to God, if you're not already dead, I'm gonna do it myself for making me rescuing your ass" she knew that she _might _just have a shot of getting out of there alive. Quinn's eyes darted to the window, spotting a tan hand grab the window ledge. The blonde struggled anxiously against her bonds, fearing that the demon would realise what what going on and kill Santana without hesitation, but the house was eerily silent, shrouded by nightfall. She watched as Santana's head bobbed up to look through the murky window and watched as her chocolate eyes widened when she saw Quinn and the state Dr. Shepard had left her in.

Santana glimpsed through the dirty window and around the rest of the room, probably checking that Quinn was alone before she broke in. Once satisfied they were alone, she eased the window up slowly and as quietly as possible. Quinn thanked the heavens that the window didn't have a lock on it but cursed them when it squeaked through age and neglect. Santana paused and Quinn found herself holding her breath and listening intently, but her ears were met with absolute silence.

After a few more painfully loud squeaks from the window and some silent oaths from Quinn, Santana had managed to climb into the room. She immediately started for Quinn, treading softly on the rotted wooden floor. "What the fu-"

"Santana hurry," Quinn whispered. The other girl shut her mouth, deciding that she'd act now and ask questions later. She had managed to free Quinn's hands but both girls stopped dead when they heard a loud bang from downstairs, proceeded by several other noises. They didn't know if it was the demon or not but Santana wasn't taking any chances. She quickly cut Quinn's feet free and hoisted her up. Quinn doubled over with pain and let out a silent scream. Santana was looking frantically from the door to Quinn over to the window. They didn't have time to stop, they had to get out now if they both wanted to live so Santana ignored the look of pain on Quinn's face and dragged her over to the window.

"Shit," was Santana's response when she realised that Quinn was in no shape to climb out of a window and down a drainpipe. "Think Santana, think," she muttered to herself, starting to panic slightly. Quinn slumped against the wall and held her side. Shepard must have broke a rib or two, there was no way she was going to get out of here. She could hardly walk let alone run or climb. Santana watched the blonde squirm in pain before saying, "Fuck it." She knelt down in front of Quinn with her back to her. "Put your arms around my neck," Santana said. Quinn was about to question her but the Latina gave her a look over her shoulder that made Quinn stop and do as she was told. Without warning, Santana grabbed Quinn's legs from underneath and stood upright.

"You're going to carry me out of the window?" Quinn asked, slightly alarmed and interested in how that would work.

"No, we're going to run out of here, through the front door and we are never coming back," Santana clarified as she headed towards the door.

"He'll know what's going on as soon as we're out of this room, we're not going to make it San, please just get out of here. You're not dying because of me." Quinn wasn't surprised when Santana didn't respond, but she was surprised when the cheerleader grabbed the door handle and gave it a twist.

They weren't quite sure what to expect on the other side of the door. Maybe Dr. Shepard, maybe Rachel or some other murderous ghost but they were met with stillness. Quinn felt Santana take a sharp inhale before bolting it through the corridors and towards the stairs. Was it really going to be this easy? A loud bag sounded from behind them and then at the side of them and then all around them but Santana carried on undeterred, moving as fast as she could go with the other girl on her back. They were halfway down the stairs when an invisible blow sent them flying the rest of the way down. Santana landed at the bottom, and Quinn landed on top of her, yelling in pain. A sadistic laugh reverberated all around the house, mocking them both. Santana shook her head and launched herself to her feet, pulling Quinn up with her.

They both looked up and saw a dark figure standing at the top of the stairs. Santana swore under her breath, digging out a small bottle of clear liquid from her coat pocket. Without hesitation, she uncapped it and threw it up at the figure. Quinn's eyes widened as she heard growls and grunts coming from the figure who she presumed to be Shepard. Whatever Santana had thrown had actually manage to hurt this thing, it hurt a demon! Quinn didn't have long to ponder on it before she felt Santana's hand grip hers and yank her towards the door. Quinn looked back once more, this time spotting a brunette girl staring directly into her eyes. It was Rachel of course but Quinn glared, pouring every bit of rage and hurt she had into it before Santana pulled her out of the door. Quinn felt betrayed. Rachel hadn't even tried to help. She wasn't a friend. She was no better than her father.

Both girls collapsed onto the cold ground once they were safely out of the house and off of the grounds, though at night they weren't safe. Not anywhere, though hopefully whatever Santana had thrown at him would slow him down for a few days. They caught their breath and Santana phoned home for a lift, telling Quinn that she would be staying at the Lopez crib that night. As they waited for Santana's dad to collect them both, Santana cleared her throat and broke the silence. "Okay, so would you like to tell me what the hell is going on and why that crazy son of a bitch kidnapped you?"

Quinn licked her lips and tasted the dry blood. "My psychiatrist- who I thought was my psychiatrist kidnapped me and planned to kill me so he could be human again. He's the demon San, he was the demon all along. He told me." Quinn stopped talking and huffed. "And he's Rachel's father," she added almost silently. Santana studied her for a moment before opening her mouth.

"I'm sorry Q. Though I did tell you that girl was a violent bitch, she threw things at me! As for the demon daddy being Dr. Shepard, I would have never have guessed. He always seemed so quiet and reserved, he only moved here a couple of years ago too. Guess you never know who's a sociopathic, murderous demon and who's not." The Latina shrugged nonchalantly, trying to lighten the mood but it was lost on Quinn. Instead, the blonde stared intently at nothing as something triggered in her head.

Santana had said that Dr. Shepard had only been here a couple of years, but it was before Quinn moved to Lima. The demon told her that he had been draining her life in order to become 'solid' as it were but if that was true then- "Are you about to pass out or something? You look like you're in pain," Santana asked. "Or is that just your thinking face?"

"Santana, I think I know how we can get rid of this son of a bitch." Santana raised an eyebrow. "Dr. Shepard was around before I got here, meaning that the demon couldn't have been him all this time, he wasn't strong enough to even leave the house before he started mooching my life. I don't think that that's his true form, I think once he was strong enough, he _possessed _Dr. Shepard." Quinn noticed the confusion in Santana's eyes and realised that she hadn't explained properly to Santana that the demon planned on becoming human by draining Quinn of her life, hell she'd only just found out herself so she quickly filled her in.

"Okay, so if you're right-"

"I know I'm right. I also found pictures of Rachel and her family and her father did not resemble Shepard in the slightest. I'm telling you San, the bastard lied and I think I know why. If he's possessing someone then he can be exorcised and if he can be exorcised then he can be sent to hell. I'm guessing once he killed me and got what he wanted, he wouldn't need Shepard any more, he'd have his own body back."

"So that's how he can drive and how people can see him?" Santana asked, and Quinn nodded. "Then in the day when he's trapped in the house, I'm betting he leaves the Doc's body on ice then takes it for a spin at night?" They both fell silent into deep thought until a grin spread across Santana's face. "I have an idea.

"Find Dr. Shepard's body in the daytime when he has no use for it, then kidnap it so he can't get back in it?" Quinn asked.

"From the sounds of it, that wouldn't do anything but slow him down. He's strong enough to just go out and possess some other poor bastard and come after us. Besides, for all we know, he's possessing an empty body, the real Dr. Shepard could already be dead. What we've gotta' do is wait until he's in the body- so at night- then exorcise his ass right down to hell. We might be able to save the Doc, we might not, but we're sure as hell gonna save you Quinn." Santana shot Quinn a reassuring smile, letting her know that the fiery Latina meant business.

"You do realise, one screw up and he can drain the rest of me? He'll have limited abilities whilst in a human body, but once he gets his own body back, you can't stop him. He'll kill for fun and he won't care. We have to make sure we get it right, we'll probably only have the one shot at it and we can't let him know what we're doing. He'll try and escape and most likely succeed."

"Fantastic," Santana breathed as she rubbed her temples, feeling the formation of a headache as a result of all the new information. "So, what about your girlfriend? What's going to happen to her?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Quinn said bitterly, not meeting Santana's eyes.

"But you like her?" It was more of a statement than a question. When Quinn didn't reply, Santana sighed, "C'mon Blondie, I'm not blind. I have a psychic Mexican third eye you know," she said smugly.

"A what? Never mind. Are we really having this conversation again?" Quinn sighed, remembering Santana's and Brittany's last interrogation, though thankfully, they dropped it before forcing her to confess.

"I'm dating Britt, you have a thing for a dead girl, look we're sharing! Isn't this exciting?" Santana feigned enthusiasm.

"Had," Quinn corrected. "_Had_ a thing for a dead girl, before she sold me out to her psycho-demon-father." Quinn paused and bit her lip. "She can go straight to hell with him."

"You mean that?" Santana asked.

"I'm not sure," Quinn admitted. She had genuinely loved Rachel but she had to remind herself that the Rachel she spent time with wasn't the real Rachel. Or was it? She thought back. Her laughter seemed real, the way she looked at Quinn had seemed real and the way she kissed had definitely felt real. Quinn pushed the memories out of her mind, replacing them with the fact that Rachel had still betrayed her, forced to or not- Quinn still felt the hurt swell in her chest. "What did you throw at the demon?" Quinn asked, suddenly remembering.

Santana smirked. "Holy water."

"How did you know what would work?"

"I didn't. But, I figured I've watched enough _Supernatural_ to take the risk." Both girls laughed for the first time that night, and they both felt just a little better.

They sat in silence again until Diego Lopez showed up in a black Range Rover. "C'mon," Santana said, helping Quinn to her feet and into the back seat. Diego asked the girls what had happened. Quinn's bloody face didn't exactly go unnoticed. Santana quickly and cleverly formed a cover, pure bullshit disguised as brilliance flowed from her lips but her father seemed to buy every word of it. According to the younger Lopez, Quinn had been mugged by dangerous thugs and Santana had bravely fought the attackers off. Quinn couldn't help but snort sarcastically at how the other girl was portraying herself as some superhero, but she _had _saved her sorry ass and without her, Quinn would be dead so she decided to let Santana revel in the lie. Diego wasn't impressed with the fact that Santana had willingly put herself in danger but seemed relieved that the worst thing he'd have to patch up was Quinn's face and her ribs.

A few hours later, Quinn had been fixed up, fed, bathed and now she lay on the left side of Santana's Queen size bed. Santana's parents didn't ask why Quinn didn't want to stay at home, though Quinn figured Santana may have told them she'd been kicked out. The girls had gotten into bed well over two hours ago, but Quinn found it impossible to sleep with all that had gone on, but judging by the faint snoring and murmuring, Santana was out like a log. Quinn chewed her lip as a question nagged at her. She debated whether to wake the sleeping Latina and face her wrath or wait until morning. She decided on the former, earning her several 'go fuck yourself' and even a swing at her head before Santana finally gave in. She rolled over and groaned into her pillow. "Hurry up so I can go back to sleep."

"How did you know I was there?"

Santana pulled her face out of the pillow. "I was worried about you so I went to your house and this angry little man told me you didn't live there any more, so I thought, 'where would the ghost whisperer be at this time of night'. It really wasn't a brain buster. You're always at that house!"

"Oh," Quinn simply said. She didn't even mention the fact that she was actually on her way to Santana's. Only one thing crossed her mind. "Thank you." she'd realised she hadn't thanked Santana for saving her life. She was just grateful that Santana cared enough to find out where she lived and go to see if she was okay. She was also grateful that Santana figured out where Quinn was before it was too late.

"Don't mention it. Really. Don't, or I'll suffocate you with this pillow. You can show your gratitude by letting me sleep," Santana said as she turned on her side and tried to get back to sleep. Quinn chuckled softly to herself before doing the same thing. Eventually she fell into a deep sleep.

_Quinn's eyes opened. She was stood on the doorstep of that decrepit house. She knew she was dreaming, it was winter and she was wearing a t-shirt and she wasn't the least bit cold. Quinn exhaled and decided to see where this dream would take her. She pushed on the frayed, wooden door. Everything in the house looked the same, it was as though she was actually there, as though it was real, she told herself it wasn't but it sure as hell felt like it. _

"_Quinn?" A familiar, once comforting voice filled the house. Quinn remained silent, observing the house, looking for where Rachel's voice was coming from. The blonde felt a hand gently rest on her shoulder and she swiftly turned around, harshly batting the hand away only to be face to face with Rachel, their lips inches away. The ghost looked hurt, even frightened but Quinn reminded herself that this was just a dream. "Quinn, please listen to me, talk to me," the ghost said, backing off as to give Quinn space. _

_Quinn scoffed and shook her head. "You're not real, this is a dream." Rachel regarded her sadly but didn't respond. "This is a messed up dream," Quinn mumbled to herself, wiping a had over her brow. _

"_I'm so sorry Quinn. You need to understand that I didn't want to do what I did. I didn't want to make you fall in love with me, I didn't want to lie to you and lead you to your death, I-"_

"_Then what do you want?" Quinn snapped. _

"_I want you to forgive me," Rachel whispered. _

"_Fat chance of that. Once I destroy your daddy, you're next," Quinn said coldly. Though when she saw the pain behind Rachel's gaze, she felt a pang of unknown guilt. _

"_You don't mean that."_

"_I don't?" _

"_No." Rachel walked around Quinn and sat herself down on the bottom step of the marble staircase. _

_Quinn swallowed. "Was it all a lie? Did you ever want me, did you even love me?" _

_Rachel smiled sadly. "What did you feel when I kissed you?"_

_Fireworks, happiness, peace, Quinn thought to herself but blushed when Rachel's lips twitched upwards. It was a dream, of course the other girl knew what she was thinking, the other girl was formed from her subconscious after all. Quinn didn't say anything. Apparently she didn't have to. _

"_That's what I thought," Rachel said, getting up and walking back towards Quinn. The ghost grabbed Quinn's hand, who felt the urge to pull away but also felt comforted by the touch she swore she'd never feel again. Without words, Rachel leaned up towards Quinn and placed a soft kiss onto Quinn's lips and all the feelings she had thought of a minute ago returned, pushing their way past the walls she had built up, drowning her in so much emotion that she couldn't help but kiss back. But as soon as she did, Rachel vanished and Quinn opened her eyes. _

A bluish light seeped through the curtains of Santana's room, signalling the crack of dawn and the blonde's ears were met with snoring that masked the bird song. Quinn was awake. It really was a dream after all. She had started to doubt it when Rachel had kissed her but now she was sure it was a dream. Or was it? Quinn had kissed Rachel back, did that mean she forgave the ghost? Quinn shook her head. She couldn't, she wouldn't, not after everything. But she found herself feeling less angry towards the ghost, less hurt, and more forgiving. Maybe deep down, she knew that it wasn't all Rachel's fault. Maybe she believed that the ghost had been forced into it and maybe she believed that Rachel actually did care for her as time passed and they got to know one another. She sure as hell went the wrong way about it, but then again, at the start of it all, Rachel didn't know Quinn and it was her only shot at getting free from that house (or so she thought). Quinn sighed. The fact that Rachel now knew even after all this she wouldn't get her freedom should have made Quinn feel better, should have made her feel satisfied that the ghost's fate was sealed as well as her own, but it didn't. She found herself once again wondering how she could help Rachel.

* * *

_Wow, I am sorry for how long this update took me D: I've had so much work to deal with but I've got a lot of time to myself now :) Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter! And hopefully you won't have to wait too long for the next update. Until next time :) _


End file.
